We never close
by Ayu.and.Ihu
Summary: Season 3 Reloaded What if Speed never died and Ryan still came into the team. Trouble ensured! Rated for Saftey Moved to Ayu the Messiah
1. Troubleshooting

**Titel:** We Never Close (Season 3 Reloaded)  
**Teil:** 1/24  
**Autor:** Ayu & Ihu  
**Email:** BoringTVweb.de  
**Ra****ting:** PG-16  
**Pairing:** ---  
**Genre:** Crime, Drama, Dark, Romantic, Comedy  
**Warning:** AU!  
**Disclaimer:** This literary work is a piece of fan fiction. _CSI: Miami_, and all associated content (whether trademarked, copyrighted or otherwise protected by U.S. or international law) are property of CBS and Jerry Bruckheimer and/or their registered trademark and copyright holders.

**AUTHO****RS' NOTE:**

"We Never Close" began as a simple RPG the two of us (Ayu and Ihu) used to play online, but we liked the idea of presenting our alternative storyline to all of you as a fanfiction, so we started to go through the story again and rewrote some of the paragraphs. The first chapter began to take shape, but we decided that 'Troubleshooting' will not be the end of it. The whole fanfiction is now planned as a complete alternative season with – at least – 24 episodes.  
Later on, there'll be several crossovers with CSI and CSI:NY (between Episodes 10-15) and – after a long time of discussion – we've decided on a pairing, but we dare not telling you g  
_Concerning Updates:  
_Since we're still writing this whole story as an RPG (because it's fun!), it may take some time 'til we are able to finish a chapter. This is not only because of the lenght of every single chapter. Another important factor is that _after_ writing it, we are reviewing the story twice. If you want to know when a new chaper should be published or how far we are in writing/editing it, you may look at our homepage or livejournal.  
_Warning:  
_The story is read over and over again by the authors themselves, but there'll definitely be some mistakes left (It's a tough thing to find a native-speaking and relieable beta-reader). So, if you find any mistakes in grammar or orthography and spelling or logical sense, feel free to keep them ;)! We deeply apologize, but we're just two young German women and have never been to the United States by now (although we're planning on a trip in 2008). Our knownledge of the English language is just as lacking – we learned it in school for 9 years, but we still need to improve a lot! We hope, you'll enjoy this stuff, though!

_Ayu & Ihu_

* * *

**Ayu & Ihu Productions  
CSI: MIAMI  
"We Never Close"  
SEASON 3: RELOADED**

_Episode 1  
Troubleshooting_

The scent of red and gold flowers in early bloom filled the air where it mingled with the joyous songs of the birds that praised the arrival of spring. The first rays of sunlight peeked through the leaves of the threes illuminating the park with a gentle golden light, showing lightgreen grass which was soaked with dark blood.  
The peaceful silence was disturbed by the angry dark colors and a small crowd of passengers had gathered around the yellow tape, which had been bared around the crime scene by police officers. None of them cared about the flowers and trees awakening from their winter's sleep or the sun burning down on Miami. All they wanted was getting a glimpse on the two corpses found in the middle of the park that particular morning.  
Alexx Woods stared down at the two 16-year-old girls lying side by side and holding each others hands, while Eric Delko walked around them and took several pictures of their dead bodies.  
One girl - her name was Julie McMiller - had been a beautiful and very feminine young woman with golden hair and red lips. Her white shirt was ripped open and showed three small holes where the projectiles had penetrated her fragile body.  
The bullets had obviously been shot by an automatic 9mm handgun. Alexx knew, because the other girl named Viviane McMiller had her right hand clutched tightly around the handle of the gun. Horatio Caine - who had checked on the girls' IDs earlier - had told her that they were twin sisters, but from the outside they didn't seem to have much in common. Viviane was - unlike her sister - the sportive and tomboyish type with black-colored hair and muscular arms. She was rather masculine, but her lids were covered with dark eyeshadow and some sort of liquid eyeliner and a giant tattoo of an exotic Chinese character showed on her neck.  
Alexx kneeled down knowing Horatio was following her every move with his eyes.  
Carefully tracing the bloodstains on Viviane's face, she tried to reconstruct the event.  
"Both have defentionmarks on their arms and shoulders. Looks like they were fighting each other. See these hematoma? You get those when you're beaten up by someone."  
She pointed at a lightblue swelling in Viviane's face waiting for her colleague to say something, but Horatio remained silent.  
"This one here", Alexx nodded toward Julie, "was killed by three projectiles hitting the abdomen, the left shoulder and her chest. The bullets penetrated her lungs and uterus, causing several internal bleedings. The scapula broke from the impact of the third projectile."  
Eric who although listened to Alexx, kept taking pictures with that familiar _snap_ of the camera. He felt like something was out of place. Maybe it was the fact that Viviane held her sister's hand with her left while the fingers of her right hand were wrapped around the trigger. The fact that they were still holding hands was a sign that they seemed to be very close, but if they where, what could have made them this desperate they would kill themselves or each other? But still, both girls had this peaceful expression on their faces as if they were sleeping. Only their gray complexion and bloodstained skin told the CSI they were dead.  
"What about Viviane?" he asked Alexx thoughtfully. "What caused her to die?"  
"I was just coming to that," she answered. "Viviane was wounded by a single shot into her heart. She must have had a few seconds left after that, otherwise she couldn't have laid down beside her sister all by herself."  
Alexx gazed up at Horatio.  
"So, what does this look like to you?"  
"It occurs Viviane shot her darling sister before she committed suicide, but let's wait what the evidence will tell us." That was all he said, before he turned around and looked at Calleigh Duquesne, who was collecting the shell casings and the bullet that had been a through and through to Julie's body. Calleigh packed the shell casings into different bags and labeled them. After that she started her search for the missing bullet which lay just a few foot away from the two bodies. Carefully she lifted it up and took a good look at it. "What a beauty," Calleigh muttered to herself.  
Horatio shook his head slightly, a small smile tugging on his lips, before he returned his attention back towards Alexx.  
"Don't you think it's really odd that someone who wants to commit suicide kills himself with a bullet to the chest? How could she know in which way she had to shoot to make sure she would die? Why didn't she choose another way? Something easier?" Horatio asked her.  
It was a shame that those two girls died before their time and he was really curious what had caused this. If he was honest to himself, he couldn't believe that Viviane killed herself, even if it may look like it. He couldn't grasp what was wrong, but evidence did not lie, so they would find out. Horatio glimpsed at Ryan Wolfe who shot several pictures of the nearby evidence to secure a proper and complete sketch of the scenery.  
"You go ahead," he shouted at Calleigh, who had asked the young CSI something Horatio didn't catch. Calleigh let out a long sigh, stood up and walked over to Alexx, who was still examinating the bodies. She kneeled down beside Viviane and removed the gun in order to take it to the lab. With a few words she told Horatio were he might find her if she was needed. For the time being, all she could do was testing the gun.  
After he finished taking pictures, Ryan started taking samples of the blood spatter that where visible on the grass. He had to admit that he was confused how they got this way. As far as he knew you had to shoot from a far distance for the droplets to fall so they created this image. Making a mental note to ask Horatio or Calleigh about this - he couldn't ask them right now because Horatio, Calleigh and Alexx had just taken off toward the lab - he decided not to make any further guesses about this.  
Eric packed the camera equipment and stored his toolcase in the back of his car, before returning to the crime scene. He slipped through the near-by passengers and saw Ryan kneeling down and bending deeply over the ground. Eric didn't know, what his colleague was up to, but he thought that their job was done here. All the evidence was photographed, labeled and properly cataloged. What good was this digging the earth?  
He shook his head. There was only one thing left to do.  
He took off the gloves and walked over to Detective Monroe. The stocky man in his fifties acted as the substitute of Frank Tripp who had left on vacation with his family the previous week. Eric had first met Monroe more than one year ago, but he still didn't like him too much.  
The detective was struggling to calm down the woman who called 911, but he obviously did not succeed. The woman was shaking all over and stared down onto the grass. Her lips trembled. _Must have been quite a shock for her!_ Eric thought. Monroe nodded as he caught sight of Eric and retreated obviously relieved to be free of this task, so he stepped up to the woman as her dazzled gaze finally fixed on him.  
"I..I...," she stuttered.  
"Miss Delfino? My name is Eric Delko," he introduced himself in a calm voice, "I'm an investigator of the CSI squad working on the case of Julie and Viviane McMiller."  
"So... that are... the girls' names?" she asked in shock.  
"The detective told me, you found the dead bodies at 9:14 a.m. this morning. Did you notice anything unusual until you got here?"  
"No," she said, her lips were still trembling terribly. "I was just jogging... enjoyed the fresh breeze... I always do that on Wednesdays... and then..."  
She stopped and her eyes filled with tears.  
"Have you seen'em before? Or did you know'em?" Eric asked.  
"No!" she repeated, almost screaming now. "Why are we going through this again? I told the officer everything I know!"  
_Okay, seems we're not going to progress here too much right now.  
_"I know, Miss Delfino. I just wanted to make sure, there's anything you couldn't say in front of Detective Monroe. He can be a little... rude sometimes," Eric admitted. A sardonic smile appeared on his lips. "Yeah, he is..." she agreed, tightening her grip. "He's not the kind of man one can trust too easily."  
Eric slowly drew a little card from the inside of his jacket and presented it to her. "This is my name and number. Feel free to call me, if you've got more useful information for CSI."  
In order to reassure her, Eric exchanged some more words of comfort with Miss Delfino before he could send her home again.  
At last he turned around and saw Ryan, who was still watching the stains on the grass. From his face Eric could tell that he was concentrating on something.  
"Ey, boy," he shouted as he closed up to him and interrupted his thoughts, "Let's grab our things and follow Horatio to the lab. We're done here!"  
Taking a deep breath and stopping himself from shooting a glare at the other CSI for this addressing Ryan nodded and started packing his things. He was still trying to reconstruct the original event, but no matter what, he couldn't come up with a reasonable explanation for some of the things they'd found. At first sight this case seemed to be pretty easy: Twin sisters having a fight and one shooting the other before committing suicide. But he had this indefinite feeling that the more they got to know the less they seemed to know at all.

---

She made sure the digital connection up to Horatio's vantage point in the theater was clear, so he could watch the autopsy of Viviane McMiller without any unpleasant complications.  
It took sometime to remove her strong, dark makeup, but finally Alexx was done and looked down on her pale face, combed back her black hair and thus took a probe of her DNA.  
"Alright, sweetheart", she said tenderly although she knew the girl would never respond, "let's see what happened to you"  
She tightened her grip on the scalpel and slowly sliced Vivane's epidermis open. Just as she'd predicted, the bullet had splattered her heartmuscles, causing an almost sudden death. _At least, she didn't suffer for long,_ Alexx thought. Nevertheless, something made Alexx feel uneasy. She had the feeling that things weren't quite the way they seemed to be and she was determined to do whatever she could to make sure they found out what happened to those two girls.  
She told Horatio what she saw, although he watched closely and searched the screen for anything particular interesting or unusual.  
"A 9mm projectile, stuck in the right heart ventricle. She must have done competitive sports, her muscles are in great shape. That would explain why her heart could stop a bullet, fired from such a short distance."  
Her fingers found Viviane's right hand. They had the colour of cold ashes.  
Alexx pulled out a small cotton Q-tip and retained a sample of the powdery residue.  
"Here's some gunshot residue left on the hand with which she'd fired the shot, but there's nothing whether on her skin around the wound or on her inner organs."  
H nodded and looked at the screen. "Alexx, is there any chance you can give us the closest distance she could have been shooted from? And can you tell me something about the TOD?"  
Alexx took a bottle out and grabbed her scalpel again to open up the girl's stomach.  
"Stomach contents... small pieces of pizza as far as I can tell. Probably the rests of her final supper, but to make sure she hasn't consumed any drugs or chemical material, I'll send this bottle to Eric."  
Alexx returned back to Viviane's riven heart.  
"From the consequences of the impact", she said slowly while she examined the organ, "I can tell you that..."  
She stopped dead in her tracks and looked even harder...  
This couldn't be!

---

After Calleigh got back to the institute she directly took off toward the ballistics research to check on the gun. Beginning her work she extracted all fingerprints she could find on the gun and send those to the DNA lab. As soon as she had finished with checking for samples, she started to disassemble the gun for further examinations. The first thing she actually saw was that just one bullet was missing from the magazine. A thing that just didn't fit into the image of the scene. It shouldn't be right. After all there had been at least four shots and if only one shot was fired out of this gun, which one was it? And even more important, where was the other gun? There had been no traces of another shooter, when they got to the scene so they just assumed that Viviane killed them both. But with what she knew now this could hardly be true.  
Making notes on this she checked the rest of the gun before she reassembled it.  
"So, let's go ballistic", she said joyfully and put on her safety glasses and earlaps. She fired a single shot to compare the bullet and its residue with the one found near their latest victims. She was only slightly surprised to find out that the bullets didn't match. "So, looks like I found the first bullet of your missing gun. Now let's see which one was shot from this one"  
Making a few last notes she made her way towards the autopsy theater.

---

Horatio raised an eyebrow as Alexx stopped her explanations suddenly. He turned to the screen and tried to figure out what bothered her.  
"Alexx?" he asked, waiting for her to continue.  
"I'm sorry..."  
Sighing deeply she laid down the scalpel, removed the projectile and pointed at the wound caused by the bullet. "You were right. She couldn't have shot herself, otherwise her chest and organs would be far more disrupted and tattered. From the cracks around the wound I'd say she was shot from a distance of 5-10 meters. TOD probably twelve or fifteen hours ago. Makes it approximately 8 to 9 p.m. the previous night."  
She gazed up to the window and saw Horatio concentrating on the screen.  
"So, no suicide, hm?" Horatio said in a concerned voice "Well then, I'm going to see what Calleigh found out about the gun. Keep me posted."

---

Eric didn't even bother talking to Ryan as they made it back to their workplaces and Ryan himself didn't try to pull up some sort of non-intellectual conversation such as Smalltalk. Eric wouldn't want to talk to him - that sure was fine with him! He slipped out of the lift and separated from Eric as fast as he could. On his way to the photolab in order to develop the negatives and sketch the crime scene, Ryan finally enjoyed a moment of solitude. Doing things like that wasn't the best way to deal with a problem, but he was glad to be on his own for a while.  
He sighed deeply as he let himself fall into a chair which stood in front of a massive desk. The different chemicals to envelope the negatives where all right before him so he took on his gloves and started his work, while his mind wandered.  
Ryan knew perfectly well that everyone looked at him comparing him to Timothy Speedle. Even though he never even met Speedle in person, he had come to know a lot details by coincidently overhearing conversations between Eric, Calleigh and Alexx. Skimming through his memories Ryan could recall a chat of Eric and Calleigh between two cups of coffee, as Horatio had just returned from the Miami-Dade Memorial Hospital. Somehow Speedle had got himself into serious trouble as his weapon had malfunctioned. He was shot down by the agitator, the bullet stuck in his chest. _"How many times did I tell him, he should clean out his gun?"_ Ryan could hear Calleigh say in a unfamiliar voice of concern. In Ryan's opinion Speedle must either have got some guts or he was just unbelievable stupid and had been _very_ lucky to have survived that shot. Personally he thought it was the last one, but either way both choices were stupid. But Ryan had always kept that to himself, locking up his thoughts and buried them deep down inside. He knew it was better that way then creating more problems as he already had.  
When Ryan had had his first day in the laboratory, he could almost grab the tension that was crackling through the air like a high-voltage lightning. By that time, Speedle's state of health had grown even more serious as he suffered under a sepsis that absorbed most of his strength. It took almost two more months until Horatio informed his squad that Speedle was on the way of recovery. So, it was only a matter of time until he would be back in office claiming his old position.  
Nevertheless, everyone treated Ryan like he wanted to take Speedle's place. Sometimes he even had the feeling, they thought he shot him personally. Couldn't they see that all he wanted to do was doing his job as a criminalist? He felt no desire to replace Speedle; Occasionally he never even tried to. But that obviously didn't matter to anyone.  
As a matter of fact he was still wondering what would happen once Speedle was back. Would Horatio keep him at his lab or would he decide Ryan was no longer of any use to him? He couldn't tell, but then again he was the only CSI in his squad that Horatio called by his last name.  
In times like these, when his thoughts wouldn't let him rest, he really wished he had someone to talk to, but he didn't want to burden his uncle with such stupid fears. He had to do this on his own and even if every little part of his being protested, he would just stand by and watch, as long as it wasn't clear that he could do anything. What else could he do anyway?  
Realizing that he had finished Ryan collected the photographs and made his way toward the layout room, where he arranged the pictures until his OCD was fully satisfied and started sketching the scene. While doing this he tried to push his thoughts aside, brooding wouldn't get him anywhere and it certainly would not solve the case, so it was time to concentrate on work...

---

"H!" she greeted him as they met each other outside the morgue and her sullen expression told Horatio that Calleigh obviously had no good news. "I checked the gun. There was only one shot fired from the magazine and the bullets didn't match. So we obviously have a second shooter and no idea who he was. And we have no idea if Julie was shot by her sister at all. I'm was just on my way to collect the other bullets. Maybe I will find her bullet there. Otherwise we have a problem." she explained and showed him the notes she had made all through her examinations. "We already know that Viviane didn't shoot herself..." Horatio added slowly. He began to feel very uncomfortable about this case. Apparently nothing was as it seemed to be. "Tell me as soon as you found anything else."  
She nodded and smiled slightly. "Will do, when I finish running our gun and the bullets through the database. Maybe we are lucky and the gun was used before."  
Horatio nodded slightly in appreciation. "You may do so. Keep me posted."  
Calleigh watched H leave and nodded to herself. She really started wondering, what had been going on between those two girls that made them suffer through such a terrible fate. And she hoped that they would be able to find out the truth about their death.  
Alexx started smiling as Calleigh rushed into the morgue. She had been nearly finished with Viviane's autopsy when Horatio had left and so it took her nearly no time to move along with her twin sister. She had just removed the bullets and knew that the blonde CSI had come for those.  
"Hey, Alexx! Have you got anything for me?" Calleigh asked her in her casual happy tone that never failed to amaze her.  
Alexx nodded toward a small and slim plastic box half-filled with bloody water still smiling.  
"Two projectiles, 9mm calibre. First one found in Viviane McMillers heart ventricle, second one in Julie McMillers uterus. You'll like them!"  
"Yay! That's good news!"  
Calleigh happily made her way over to her bullets and took a good look at them. "Like them, Alexx? They are nearly perfect. What about the other bullet?" she stopped and looked at her inquiring.  
"Just be patient, honey" Alexx said in a light voice, "I'm cutting my way through her lungs. It must be somewhere in here..."  
Placing a spreader between the bones and flesh, Alexx was able to reach the last bullet with her tweezers. She tweaked it out of Julies chest and placed it right beside its brother and sister in the plastic box. "There you go, honey! Have fun!"  
"Thanks, Alexx." Calleigh smiled broadly at her, took the bullets and went back to the ballistics to finish her work on them. She really hoped that they would be lucky and find the person who did this.

---

Ever since Rick Stetler woke up that morning, he felt a strange sensation that nestled in the pit of his stomach and the moment he entered the CSI laboratory, this feeling was getting even worse. His hair had been cut neatly and he wore one of his best suits that particular morning, but that and at least five cups of coffee didn't do much to polster his confidence.  
All night long, he'd prepared himself for the battle that was about to take place, although this was going to be a battle of words rather than weapons. He'd tried to set up a mental defense wall behind which he could hide his emotions and fully focus on his opponent. All he needed to do was wait until he'd crushed his enemy's own barriers, thus he could force his interests and those of the IAB. It appeared to him that this was the true nature of war.  
Besides, he knew Horatio Caine and he knew this was going to be dirty anyway.  
_Take it easy_, he told himself, _everything will work out fine!  
_Taking a last deep breath, he grabbed the inconspicuous looking black briefcase that rested on the front-seat beside him and got out of his car. The briefcase contained – amongst other things like a _Pall Mall_ cigarette pack, a box of matches and peppermint drops – the personnel file and medical records of Timothy Speedle. As the supervisor of investigation on the CSI squad of Horatio Caine, it was up to him to tell the lieutenant what's going to happen next to his recommended employee.  
Straightening his tie, Stetler entered the building, stepped up to the secretary's desk and asked for Caine.  
"I'll call him, but it might take some time. We have just started a new investigation this morning." she said.  
"Just get him here!" Stetler snorted. He didn't have the time for further negotiations with a subordinate. And really this was far under his dignity, but he just wanted this over and done.  
Fortunately, it didn't take too long for Caine to unglue himself from his work and join him in the entrance hall.  
"Rick." Horatio greeted him, watching him intently. "How may I help you?"  
Stetler tried to ignore the calm expression Horatio's face. It was always annoying how smart Caine could be even when he had no reason to do so. He opened the brief-case and took out the portfolio, trying hard to avoid Horatio's intense gaze.  
"I thought you might be interested in Mr Speedle's current condition."  
Caine nodded slightly. "What about Speed?" he asked and Stetler knew instantly that he had him truly interested.  
"We just recieved a call from the doctor in charge of Mr. Speedle's rehabilitation, ensuring that Speedle did recover so far he could end his convalescent leave within the next few weeks. In fact, Mr. Speedle left the medical center in North Dakota and returned to Miami this Monday."  
He handed the records over to Horatio.  
Hopefully, Caine didn't know that this wasn't all he came for, but he won't give him the pleasure of knowing what he was up to. It had nothing to do with him after all, at least not directly.  
Caine took the files and started to study them a long time before he let his gaze return to Stetler. "That's not all you wanted to tell me, was it?" he asked, raising an eyebrow. Both of them knew it was a rhetorical question.  
"What makes you think so?" Rick answered coolly. "Don't think I must inform you on every event taking place in this institution."  
"We both know that you would never just come down here to tell me how Speed was doing, bringing me his file and then leave again, right?" Horatio answered calmly. "So why won't you tell me what you really came for?"  
Stetler frowned. He absolutely didn't like Horatio. He didn't like him for his talent to read everyone's mind and using the knowledge for his own advantage, for his god forsaken calm and for the fact that he seemed to always get past him. "This has nothing to do with you." he said tartly using his best _drop the matter_ look on Caine.  
Horatio looked down at the floor for a moment before tilting his head to one side to look at him, a small smile tugging at his lips. "Everything that happens inside my lab has something to do with me."  
"Don't you take yourself too seriously!" Stetler snapped suddenly, "This lab is property of Miami-Dade County and no personal belonging of yours, Horatio!" He grimaced unwillingly as he tried to keep control of the emotional breakout that threatened to overcome him at any second.  
"I am perfectly aware of that, Rick." Horatio responded.  
"So, if you are 'perfectly aware of that'" Stetler quoted his words, "you're also aware that I have no responsibility toward you and that you can not force me to give account to you."  
Stetler slightly turned his head toward the secretary's desk and – once again – avoided Caine's gaze.  
They both fell silent and seconds turned to minutes before Horatio let out a long sigh.  
"Very well, but you better don't try to pass something over me, Rick. You might regret it someday. If you'll excuse me, please, I've got work to do back there!"  
Relief almost overwhelmed Stetler's body as Horatio turned and walked away.  
He waited for Caine to pass the next soundproof door, before he turned to the secretary's desk again. "Can you do me favor? I'd like to leave a note for Mr. Ryan Wolfe. He shall come to my office as soon as possible."

---

He didn't turn to look back as he left Rick in the entrance hall, but his thoughts were still chasing each other around in his head.  
When he'd received the secretary's call, he'd really hoped it would be something trivial, but somehow he already knew it wasn't. And the way Rick behaved was highly suspicious. Of course, they had arguments before, but he could count the few times it had been like this on one hand. Rick had suppressed the true reason for his little visit and tried to hide it underneath a cloak of self-confidence. Even though he tried to keep his cool during their nice and little chat, Rick got furious and Horatio knew he was up to something. The way he refused to tell him the truth was a sign that it was probably nothing good.  
Shaking his head to clear his thoughts Horatio went to meet Calleigh in the ballistics research to find out if there were any news about the gun their second shooter used.  
But they were unlucky this time. The gun had never been used before, thus no suspect or any other useful information had come out of the research and they still didn't know what had happened.  
"Calleigh, I want you and Eric to go back to the park. See if you can find our missing bullet. Maybe it can help us." If they could find out in which direction Viviane had shot, they might get a clue of where her murderer had been right before he killed the twins. And that trace might lead them to a sample of the murderer's DNA or other useful evidence.  
As he watched Calleigh leave, he couldn't help but wonder again what Stetler wanted. It didn't make him feel any more comfortable that he already knew Rick would decide something right in front of his eyes and over his head and he would get to know about it the moment it would be done.  
_He better doesn't do anything stupid._  
Determined to look into this later, Horatio went to see Alexx for further informations.

---

Eric collected all other evidence found on the crime scene and tried not to care about Ryan's getaway from the elevator. Besides, he himself had his mind on other things. He was, for instance, rather curious about the samples of the blood they had taken earlier.  
Back in the DNA lab, Valera placed a few drops of blood from a blade of grass beneath the microscope as someone brought two bottles with the girls' stomach contents and two different strands of hair Alexx had cut off the dead bodies. The blonde hair was labeled "J. McMiller", the small bag containing the black hair read "V. McMiller". Eric knew they had to compare the DNA from the bloodcells to the DNA contained in the girls' hairs.  
The scans of the blood as well as the strands of hair under the microscope told him that Viviane and Julie were a monozygotic pair of twins and thus completely identical in their genes. Only their choice of clothes and makeup differed them from one another. The blood being spilled all over the grass and the girls' bodies only testified that it was _their_ blood and no-one else's. But he was stunned when Valera found the rest of a aggressive chemical substance that had circulated within Julie's veins. She took the stomach contents Alexx had extracted from Julie's stomach and let hightechnology do the rest.  
Waiting for the printout of the results, she had checked on the gunshot residue found on Viviane's right hand. It belonged to the weapon, Calleigh had just conducted. Although he couldn't believe it: the evidence was telling that no third person was involved in the murder and suicide of Julie and Viviane. But as they knew this couldn't be true. It nearly seemed as if the other bullets just got out of nowhere. Eric hated situations like this. It made absolutely no sense.  
Then the prints finally dropped out and he was caught by surprise again.  
He gave Alexx a call and put a copy of the results into an envelope addressed back to her. Valera finished her work and took off for her lunch-time. "Thanks! See you later!" Eric shouted after her.  
After that, he had just enough time to finish his notes and set the computer options back to normal, as Ryan walked in and asked for the results. Eric handed him another copy.  
"I thought you're in the layout room?" he asked.  
"I was, but now I'm here and I need these copies to rethink the sketches." Ryan explained shortly. He seemed to be in a hurry, but Eric didn't figure why. Ryan was working so hard, he'd tend to believe Ryan wanted to proof he was better than other investigators. Possibly better than Speed?  
Suddenly Ryan's cell phone gave an annoying ring and he picked up the call quickly.  
"Wolfe."  
Eric fell silent and watched Ryan's face. His colleague frowned and started chewing his lowerlip nervously. His ambitious professionalism seemed to vanish into thin air and was replaced by something that just look like deadly mixture of fear and despair.  
"Yeah, I see. Okay, I'll be right with him. Thanks!"  
Ryan hung up and noticed Eric's quite interested look. He cleared his throat extensively and roused Eric from his thoughts. The frightened expression on Ryan's face was completely gone and for a second Eric thought he had imagined this. "Thanks for your help. See you later," the brownhaired CSI said quickly before Eric could ask him about the call and turned to the door just as fast as he had rushed into the DNA lab.  
Eric shook his head in confusion. Sometimes he really wondered if he ever would understand Ryan Wolfe at all. He just didn't know how he should feel about him...  
Only a few minutes after Ryan's visit at breakneck-speed, Calleigh walked in, carrying her toolbox.  
"What's up?" Eric asked with a smile.  
"Horatio wants us to go back to the park! There's reason to believe the case of Julie and Viviane McMiller just became a double-murder."  
Eric raised an eyebrow in interest. "Really?"  
"Yeah, really. I can give you further detail on our way back, but for now let's get moving!"  
"Alright! But did Horatio say anything about calling the girls' parents? We need to question them too and as far as I know they don't even know about the death of their daughters." She smiled back at him as he slipped into his jacket once more.  
"Don't worry about that! H said he wanted to talk to the parents!"

---

In the early afternoon Alexx had finally finished the autopsy of the girls' and wrote down the reports in her office. Needing a break, she got out of her chair and fetched up a cup of coffee from the dispenser that should help her concentrate on her work. She couldn't help herself tough. She pitied the girls and their parents, felt sorry for their loss. Closing her eyes for a moment she thought of her own children. Hopefully neither her kids nor Alexx herself would ever have to suffer from such an ill fate.  
When she returned to her desk she found the folder Eric had send.  
Although he'd told her everything on the phone, she still felt her heart beat a little faster as she read his notes over and over again.  
Her thoughts were finally interrupted when she heard a soft knocking on the door and saw Horatio waiting outside. She waved him in and he made his way over to a chair.  
"Anything new about the girls?" he asked her and leaned back.  
Alexx combed back a strand of her black hair and fixed her mind on the subject again. There was no point in rethinking her life by now.  
"Indeed."  
She disposed the coffee cup and stretch out to grab the folder, then handed it over to Horatio.  
"I already send Eric all the evidence I could find on either Viviane or Julie. Oh, and I've discovered the meaning of a tattooed Chinese character on Viviane's neck. It has the meaning 'death', I expected something less disturbing… But again it could also be just a symbol for them. During my autopsy on Julie I found a tattoo on her spine. It was also a Chinese character standing for 'life'."  
H took the folder and opened it with his famous mime of curiosity.  
"Eric said to me that all samples – whether blood or hair – belong to our two victims. But here's the surprise: Julie's stomach contained several pharmaceuticals that require a doctor's prescription. All of them are used to cure the symptoms of leukemia."

----

When Ryan entered Rick Stetler's office, the IAB agent was standing in front of the window and stared down at the busy street below.  
"Sit down", Stelter said when he heard the door close.  
Ryan took a seat and watched Stetler turning around slowly, a rather serious expression on his face.  
"I hope you understand that the following conversation is to be kept a secret between you and me, Mr. Wolfe. I don't have any intentions to let Lieutenant Caine interfere in this matter. And he surely would, even if it's just to displease me."  
Ryan was not sure if he wanted to know what Stetler was talking about, but he knew that he didn't have much of a choice. So he simply nodded, while making a mental note that he would still tell Horatio if he thought it would be for the best.  
"So... why did you want to see me?"  
Stetler sat down in his massive and over-sized office chair and looked at him for a while, before he leaned back slightly.  
"As you know", he said slowly, "You were given the positon as a CSI, because Mr. Timothy Speedle was wounded in a terrible accident. His wound began to suppurate and infected his immune system. The sepsis forced him to resign from his post as a crime scene investigator for the time being."  
Stetler looked at him intensively, trying to track Ryan's reactions.  
"That was 10 months and 27 day ago. Shortly after this, you were recruited by Horatio Caine to bridge the gap until Mr. Speedle is able to return to his post."  
Ryan nodded. Even though Stetler still didn't came up with the reason why Ryan was here, the young man had a fairly good idea why he wanted to speak to him.  
It seemed like the day he dreaded since he first started at CSI had finally come.  
"I can tell by your eyes that you know why I called you", Steler said with a sadistic smile on his face. "Well, Mister Speedle will be on top of things within the next week. I would have informed you earlier, but he had just returned to Miami two days ago."  
All of a sudden, Ryan's mouth felt dry.  
Stetler leaned forward and stared at him. _So this was what Horatio called Stetler's do-as-I-say-pokerface_, Ryan thought.  
"If I may give you a good advice: Don't tell Lieutenant Caine about this conversation for your own good will. He just recruited you, because no-one else was available and if he knew now, that Mister Speedle is going to return, he will let you drop out of CSI before you can say 'double jeopardy'."  
Ryan nodded again and sighed softly. "So what exactly will happen once Speedle comes back?" he asked Stetler. He really didn't know if he wanted to hear the answer, but sooner or later it would all become real after all. So better have some time to adjust.  
"It depends...", Stetler said cryptically. "My superiors and I will watch the progress on the McMiller-case and wait, if Lieutenant Caine has anything to say about you staying at his lab."  
"Ok" was everything Ryan said before he stood up quickly. "I believe that's all you wanted to tell me? So an I go back to work then?"  
"Yes, sure. Go ahead!" Stetler said indifferently, waving him off with one hand.

---

"How where her chances to survive?" Horatio asked after a short silence, looking at Alexx expectantly.  
"From the amount and concentration of drugs in her blood I guess she was seriously ill. But you must ask the doctor who prescribed these drugs to give you an exact information on it. But it's odd the doctor didn't have the twin sister donating marrow to save her."  
Alexx paused and watched Horatio for a while.  
"I wonder, what is truly going on. The crime scene just looked just like you said: Viviane shot her sister, then she committed suicide. But the pieces of this puzzle don't fit together at all..."  
"Yes, that's true. So, now what we have to do is find the missing pieces."  
With that Horatio stood up and smiled slightly at Alexx.  
"I will take Wolfe and go to the girls' address. I still have to tell the parents about their death and maybe they will be able to tell us something about their sickness. I see you later."

---

Navigating Miami's midday traffic seemed like suicide, but Calleigh and Eric finally made it back to the park – thanks to a heroic evading maneuver of Eric's that nearly made them hit a mailbox. "Fortunately, it would have been your own car, if you'd driven us against a stone wall or something," Calleigh teased him while he closed the trunk.  
The crowd of curious onlookers that had watched the investigation in the morning had vanished, so they ducked under the yellow tape to enter the crime scene without being bothered. Detective Monroe was still here though and he watched Calleigh and Eric closely while he ate his donut and leaned back against his car.  
"So, what do we do now?" Eric asked.  
"We do, what we came for: Search my missing bullet. It could be nearly everywhere though. We have no idea where the offender was standing before he shot the girls." Calleigh looked around and smiled slightly. "Looks like we have lots of work to do. I will start over there." With that she made her way to one edge of the bars and began searching for any trace of the bullet.  
"Alright then... I'll search the place, where Viviane was shot though!"  
Eric put on his sunglasses to shield his eyes from the blinding bright sunlight and walked over to the place framed with white chalk. He tried to reconstruct the shotline... _If Viviane had fallen down right after the bullet hit her heart_, he thought in full concentration, _and if it was a frontal attack, the agitator might have stood over there.  
_His feed began to move and suddenly he found himself in front of an old tree with lankily roots and a bark full of rents. "Calleigh?" he shouted in a slow tone, "Did you search the trees?"  
He leaned forward to follow the slim chaps on the bark of the tree in front of which he stood.  
"Which one exactly?" Calleigh asked in return while looking up.  
"This one." He pointed at a small hole in the bark that seemed to be the abandoned home of a bird. "If Viviane had fired the shot toward her offender right where we found her, the bullet could have traveled all the way here."  
He opened the toolbox and pulled out a new pair of gloves, then touched the morbid brims of the woodpecker's hole.  
Calleigh collected her toolcase and got over to Eric, where he watched him fully interested. "And? Any trace of my bullet?"  
"No, but maybe it didn't hit the bark."  
He activated a small flashlight and let a ray of light shine into the hole. All they could see was a dark and gleamy mass that seemed to move.  
"Are this worms?" Eric asked.  
Calleigh looked over his shoulder before she gave him an amused grin. "Looks like it, if you ask me. Well then have fun"  
Eric stared at her and blinked.  
"Typical!" he muttered before he got out of his jacket and slowly reached into the hole. He had a feeling like touching something slimy. He could feel the mass of bugs and worms crawl over his fingers while he searched for the bullet. "You owe me one!"  
"Sure thing" Calleigh said half laughing. "Just keep searching"  
Eric swept some worms and bugs aside, now searching deeper in the tree trunk. Suddenly, something gave a sickening crack and then his fingers touched something hard, something that didn't move.  
"Ah, It's coming up!"  
He grabbed the cool piece of metal as firmly as possible and – with some effort – extracted it from the backside of the hole. He hurried to knock off a bug that crawled up his forearm and tickled his skin with its antenna.  
Calleigh just grinned at him and took the bullet out of his hand. "9mm. Well, looks like we found the missing one! Should we look some more or head back to the lab?"  
"Just give me a second," Eric said and flicked away an earthworm.  
Calleigh watched patiently as he took a sample of the liquid at the brim of the tree trunk an stuffed it into a small plastic bag. "I don't have much hope, but maybe we can find something that isn't contaminated by insects," he commented dryly.  
"It would be good if we have a little luck in this, wouldn't it? Right now we don't know anything at all. I mean we know that Viviane didn't shoot herself and that they were definitely murdered. But beside that..."  
"... we don't have anything." he finished the sentence and gave Calleigh a serious look. "I'll go back to the lab and see, if that bullet you got there hit anything besides the tree and compare it with Vivian's gun." Calleigh smiled at him encouragingly. "Don't you worry too much right now. We'll get him soon enough." She packed the bullet into another bag and put it into her own toolcase. "Oh, by the way, I still have to find out who purchased the gun. We don't know if it was really Vivian's gun or if she had got if from someone else. This might also help. I'll see what I can find."  
"You do that," Eric said being totally back to business, greeting Monroe as they passed by on the way back to his car.

---

"They... they are.. _dead_?"  
Catherine McMiller felt pain and grief overwhelming her entire being as Horatio's words violently forced the terrible news onto the stirring surface of her mind. "It can't be!" she screamed, unable to control her voice, "Tell me, this isn't true!"  
All this time she had thought the two of them wanted a break and went to have a little time for themselves. For Viviane it wouldn't have been the first time to do something like that, but now she had to ask herself if she could have prevented it. Maybe if she had been a little more demanding…  
She was about to collapse as she spilled dreadful tears and mourned the death of her beloved children and Horatio himself felt a painful stitch in his heart. The loss of Viviane and Julie was nothing but a senseless waste. Jeffrey McMiller who sat beside her on the old-fashioned sofa wrapped his arms around his wife and tried to calm her down in vain.  
The family lived in a well-to-do neighborhood in West Miami. Mrs. McMiller had inherited the comfortable colonial style house from her grandmother only three years ago, right after her ex-husband George had abandoned his family, moved to Alaska and left his wife with an enormous burden of debt. Although the family suffered through a hard time, Catherine McMiller - formerly known as Catherine Carson - denied nothing to her daughters and worked in the night shift of the Miami children's hospital to feed her family. Her new husband Jeffrey was a tradesman and worked for 'Advansa WorldWide', a company down at the harbor that shipped goods from all over the world. When their marriage had been contracted almost two years ago he became the new bread-winner of the McMiller-patchwork-family.  
"You have to find whoever did this to our girls. They never did anything wrong. They both fought so hard for Julie to get better and now..." He let his hand ran in soothing circles over Catherine's back, while he watched the Lieutenant.  
"I promise you that I will find whoever did this."  
Horatio looked at the two of them and nodded slightly. He knew they wanted the truth about what had happened. They wanted and needed to know who would have had reasons to do something like that to their children and more importantly why and he was dead set on figuring it out.  
Ryan who'd readily agreed to accompany him was in the twin's bedrooms and searched for anything that might help them, but he hadn't called for Horatio and that was no good sign. Their high hopes of getting a new trace seemed to be let down fatally again.  
"Whoever did this, he deserves to die..." said Mrs. McMiller after a while, her voice clear but the desperation she felt could sill be heard. She was trying hard to keep her tears at bay, but they didn't stop running down her cheeks like a silvery stream of salt and water.  
"Please... Lieutenant Caine... is there anything we can do?"  
"There is indeed, Madam. Can you tell me anything about what your daughters used to do? Who were their friends? Was there anyone who could have wanted to hurt them?"  
Mrs. McMiller thought for a while before she slowly said: "No. Viviane used to be a headstrong rogue. She didn't have what you call friends. The only one she cared about was her sister and she suffered to see her dying. She couldn't stand it that there was nothing she could do about Julie's disease."  
She looked up at Horatio and her tears finally dried.  
"And Julie... she was quite popular at school. Although she was sick, she joined her highschool's cheerleading team and took piano lessons. She stayed away from ominous people; she did her homework... She worked hard to fulfill her dreams because she knew there wasn't much time left for her. Though... I... remember her being in love with this boy from her school... what's his name again?"  
She searched for Jeffrey's eyes and tried to find the truth written within them.  
"Sebastian So-and-So... Arnet, I believe... yes, Sebastian Arnet. He's in my dauthers' class, but Julie didn't tell Sebastian how she felt about him. She hardly talked about him either for Viviane didn't like him..."  
Horatio nodded in appreciation.  
"Thank you, Mrs. McMiller. If you remember something else that could be important please call me immediately. I hope, we have your approval to consult Julie's doctor?"  
"Of course you have!" she said immediately and leaned against her husband's comforting shoulder, "Right, darling?"  
"Of course. If it helps to find whoever did this" he nodded and squeezed his wife's hand. "Although I doubt that Doctor Corfield can help to shed light on this matter."  
"Leave that to us, Mr. McMiller."  
The short silence that followed was only pierced by the last desperate sobs of Mrs. McMiller and a faint rustle from Viviane's room as Ryan searched the wardrobe.  
"Lieutenant, may I ask you something?" Mrs. McMiller said cautiously.  
"Of course, Madam" Horatio answered and looked at her inquiringly.  
"Do you have any suspects yet? I know, you just started your investigation on this, but please, inform me, when you got him or her. I want to see the face of the person that slaughtered my daughters, so I won't ever forget it."  
Horatio watched her grief turning into rage and anger, a process that seemed all too natural and was more than familiar to him. Old and bittersweet memories crossed his mind and he remembered the dark emotions that rested inside his heart when his brother was killed in the line of duty. Sadness, confusion and anger nearly made him lose his mind and he knew he had to atone for his brother's dark deeds – possibly for the rest of his life.  
He closed his eyes for a second and willed the awful thoughts aside before he nodded once more.  
"Of course, I will inform you the minute we found your daughters' murderer."  
Mrs. McMiller rose from the couch and stepped up to the CSI. Laying a hand on his forearm she gave him an intensive glance. "God bless you, lieutenant."  
He smiled softly.  
"Thank you, Madam."  
That very moment, Ryan returned from the twin's bedrooms and wiped his gloves. He didn't seem all too happy and barely said a word, but he'd been like this ever since they had left the laboratory.  
Horatio swallowed and fiddled with the bows of his sunglasses.  
"Well, I thank you for your cooperation." he said and struggled through to another faint smile.  
Mrs. McMiller lead them back to the hall, gave Horatio a small piece of paper with Doctor Corfield's address and phone number and opened the front door. "We'll keep in touch." Horatio said, then stepped out into the bright afternoon sunlight and put his sunglasses back on.  
"Nothing unusual, neither in Viviane's room, nor in Julie's," Ryan explained quietly as they left "Viviane's room was quite sterile. Only a few personal belongings such as CDs, DVDs, books e.t.c., but I found a diary and a photography on Julie's bedside table."  
"A photo of whom?" Horatio asked.  
"A guy. Short brown hair, muscular stature. Looked like a football player or something."  
Horatio frowned and unlocked the doors of his car.  
"That could be the guy their mother talked about. His name is Sebastian Arnet."

---

They drove off to the highschool Viviane and Julie had attended up to the previous day and waited outside the building for school to end. Luckily, some of the students passing the car knew Sebastian Arnet and told them he was still in his P.E. lesson, but it didn't take a long time for Horatio and Ryan to find him.  
Sebastian wore a deepblue muscleshirt combined with tattered jeans and carried a bag with his sportswear when he left the building with his team mates. The CSIs waited by the car and finally caught up with him as he separated from his friends.  
"Sebastian Arnet? My name's Horatio Caine, Miami-Dade police. I'd like to talk to you about the McMiller sisters."  
The color drained from his face when Sebastian's gaze fixed on Horatio's badge, but he recovered his self-possession quickly. He snorted and shook his head in sardonic amusement. "M.D.P.D., hm? What kind of trouble Viviane got herself into this time?"  
"We're trying to figure that out," Horatio said dryly and pulled out a photography of the twins Eric had taken on the crime scene, "They were killed and you might be able to help us finding their murderer."

---

Sebastian Arnet did not budge while the CSIs took him to the lab and lead him into the interrogation room. Indeed, Arnet leaned back and tried to play it cool. Horatio sat down on the opposite side of the table, Ryan standing right by his side.  
After telling Arnet what happened they started questioning him about the twins.  
"I heard Viviane didn't like you? Did she have any reason to do so?" Horatio asked calmly as he stared intently at the boy.  
"Damn right, she didn't! And all just because I flirted with her precious little sister _once_, can you believe that? Thought she wanted to rip my eyes out, honestly. Scary woman, I can tell you, but next to Julie she was like another person. Calm, funny and totally caring."  
"So you couldn't date Julie, because Viviane wouldn't let you?"  
The young man nodded. "Yes, wouldn't even let me anywhere near her without glaring daggers at me."  
"Do you know if Viviane or Julie purchased a gun?"  
"Sure thing I do," he said and leaned forward, his elbows on the edge of the table. "Viviane came to me one day and flatly told me that she couldn't stand the sight of me and that she would gladly kill me, if I ever touched her sister… and that she needed my help. You have to know that I purchased a gun a while ago, all totally legal, I swear! But, well, I asked her what she wanted with my gun and all she told me was that she had to protect her sister, that her father was crazy and that she feared he would hurt them or something like that. Well... and after that I gave her my gun."  
Horatio blinked unwillingly at this words and narrowed his eyes.  
"So, you just gave her the gun?" Ryan asked in a voice of disbelieve, "I'm rather curious why you gave the weapon away so willingly, although Viviane didn't like you and may have lied to you all along."  
Sebastian shifted nervously in his chair.  
"Yeah, you got me." he admitted and sweat began to wetten his forehead. "It's just... Viviane could be mean, yes, but only when someone threatened her or her sister. I liked her temper somehow. She really got a fire raging in her soul and I liked that, but she wouldn't wanna hear it, you know. Besides... I mean, hell, everyone knew that guy was creepy. I had no reason not to believe 'er!"  
Horatio pulled a photograph of the gun out of a folder and showed it to him. "Is that your gun?"  
"Yeah, that's the thing," Arnet said and H looked at the picture again.  
"When did she ask you for your help?"  
"Tuesday afternoon after school ended. They had an appointment after that as far as I know."  
Even though, Arnet had a motive to kill Viviane, whether it was because she wouldn't let him near Julie or because she didn't show much affection for him, Horatio doubted he did it. Either way, Julie was Viviane's tender spot - and the offender knew it. But from what Arnet had told them, probably everyone who knew them were aware of that.  
"So, where have you been yesterday evening, about 9 p.m.?" Ryan asked and looked at Arnet with a straight face. "We had a special training for our next match", the young man explained, "And after that I took Pearce and Sykes from my team over to my place. We had supper, played videogames 'til 11 p.m. and then I dropped 'em off at their houses with my mother's car."  
Ryan and Horatio exchanged a quick look.  
"We'll need a sample of your DNA and your fingerprints for further examination. And it would be kind, if you'd give us your teammates addresses as well."  
Arnet nodded and waited for Ryan to secure his saliva sample on a cotton bud and ink his fingertips.  
When Sebastian cleaned his hands with a cloth and Ryan stuffed the paper with the fingerprints into the case folder, Horatio got out of his chair.  
"Thank you, Mr. Arnert" he said with a smile tugging at his lips as he turned to the door.  
It looked like they finally got something to work with.

---

Right before closing time, Horatio ordered everyone to meet in his office to exchange all the details on the case.  
He reported to his colleagues what he and Ryan had experienced from the girls' parents and Sebastian Arnet. Derrick Corfield who was responsible for Julie's medication had agreed to meet members of the CSI the next morning, so Horatio passed the task on to Eric and Ryan. "Do me a favor and take a ride to his practice tomorrow morning. This has highest priority."  
Calleigh had tested the bullet Eric had assured from the tree trunk and told all of them that it belonged to the weapon they found in Viviane's hand. The other four bullets belong to a similar 9mm weapon, but it had a different caliber.  
Horatio looked up at Calleigh. "The two of us will be checking Arnet's alibi. Eric and Ryan, you go back to work, please."  
Eric still had to analyze the contamination on the projectile, so Valera joined him in the DNA lab to help him finish the job before they knocked off work. Bending over the microscope, she pierced down on the genetic connections.  
"There _is_ blood on this bullet. Definitely male," she frowned, "You got something to compare it with?"  
Eric nodded his head. "No, not yet!"  
He heard a soft knocking on the door and the squeal of the door handle that followed.  
"Valera? Could you..." Ryan asked, but his colleague stopped in midsentence and narrowed his eyes. "Oh, sorry, thought you guys were done."  
Valera didn't turn her eyes from the sample under the microscope, but a smile tugged at her lips. "No problem, Ryan. How can I help?"  
"Ehm, I got this saliva sample from Sebastian Arnet. I need the full program. Maybe we'll be able to find traces of his DNA somewhere it shouldn't be." Ryan explained and placed a small paperbag beside the microscope.  
"Yeah, Okay, but I'll need time. Probably until tomorrow. Need to finish this examination first!" she said and glimpsed at the bag.  
"First come, first served," Eric added.  
"Yeah, sure," Ryan responded, his voice dripping with annoyance, "Well, don't bother 'bout me."  
"We won't," Eric said flatly and turned his attention toward a screen that showed a detailed picture of the dark liquid under the microscope. He didn't notice how Ryan opened and closed his mouth several times, as if he wanted to say something and decided afterwards that it would be best not to say anything at all.  
The door slammed shut and Eric watched Ryan heading towards the elevator out of one corner of his eye. Ryan seemed to be far away - once again. But this time, he frowned as if he carried a heavy load weighting on his shoulders.  
Eric sighed and received a inquiring look from Valera for it.  
Checking the time quickly, he hoped she would drop the matter.  
"Let's call it a day," he said. "See you tomorrow."

---

It's been a while since Timothy Speedle had last been to Miami. It felt unusual to be all by himself again without any doctor or nurse swaying around him, but he enjoyed the comforting silence that awaited him at his apartment.  
After his parents had picked him up in North Dakota, his mother kept worrying herself sick about him. All of Monday and the first half of Tuesday, she'd help her son unpacking his clothes and personal belongings he had taken with him to the medical center. Almost dragging her out of the flat, his father had managed to give him a break from her mothering. Still, she called him three times the next day just to make sure, he was fine and even though he loved her dearly, everyone would think of that as annoying.  
Between her worried calls, he used the time to make his purchases, clean the apartment – though his mother made sure it had been cleaned every fortnight since he' gone – and take a long shower. He watched his lines in the bathroom mirror and for the first time noticed that he'd grown a lot thinner. Touching his chest, he counted every single rib. Even his skin appeared sickly pale in the cool light of the bathroom. Fortunately, intensive physical workouts were a necessity in his job. Some training combined with an enormous extra dose of Miami's sun should help with this.  
When he'd finally dressed himself and sat down on the sofa, he thought about supper. He didn't have much verve to cook something extensive, but he could perfectly picture his mother and doctor advising him to stick to a controlled nourishment instead of deep-frozen fast food.  
The sudden ring of door bell interrupted his thoughts.  
Who could this be?  
He stood up and answered through the intercom: "Yes?"  
"Speed? This is Hotatio. Can I come in?"  
The sound of Horatio's voice caught him like a kick in the stomach. The moment felt odd, somehow unreal and for the tiniest bit of a second he didn't know what to do. But still, he couldn't pretend he was not delighted to hear his voice.  
He pushed the button and heard the humming that told him the door was open. Then he waited for Horatio to come up to the apartment.  
First, he only heard the quiet footsteps on the wooden floor, then he saw Horatio's tall figure appearing in the corridor. A smile spread across Horatio's face and he seemed to move a little faster when he saw Speed standing in the door-frame.  
"So you are finally back?"  
They stood there and watched each other for a moment that seemed to extend to a lifetime and Speed's heart missed a beat.  
"It's good to see you healthy!" Horatio said at last with a heart-warming smile "You had us quite scared you know?"  
Speed closed the door behind him.  
"Yeah... I know," he admitted slowly and narrowed his eyes before he headed toward the kitchen to fetch to bottles of beer from the fridge.  
Horatio stepped into the small living room and looked around carefully. He'd been to Speed's place once, but that was nearly five years ago.  
The room looked like Speed had just moved in. Some of the framed paintings and posters that had sticked to the wall for years lay across the floor as if Speed wanted to exchange them. But besides that, everything was in order, but the apartment seemed more like an austere accommodation than a cozy home.  
"But I'd expected the lot of you to be less scared and more upset on the circumstances of my... accident," Speed said when he returned from the kitchen and presented a bottle of beer to Horatio. They all had thought they would lose him, when he was carried to the hospital. Of course, they didn't want him to die, but he'd lost quite an amount of blood out there.  
Speed popped his own bottle open and lifted it up to his lips to take a huge swallow. It had been more than a year since he had last tasted beer. And at the moment, Speed was thankful for the well-known effect of alcohol.  
Horatio took a few sips from his beer, thinking about his answer before turning his full attention on Speed. "You know... we were upset, because it was the second time this happened. You promised us you would take better care... but you know... we can't turn back time and we are just glad you are still alive. It could have been a lot worse and you know it. Just a few millimeters south and the bullet would have been through your heart and... there would have been no chance to save your life..."  
Though Horatio seemed calm and collected, Speed noticed the slight quiver in his voice, betraying the older man with his emotions. "We are all just... really glad... But you can expect us to be after you to clean your gun now... Wouldn't want something like this to happen again, would we?"  
Speed felt the heat of shame and guilt coming up from somewhere deep down inside him. He had imagined this very moment ever since he had woken from the coma in the hospital and saw Horatio outside the room talking to the doctor in charge.  
Horatio hadn't come to visit Speed after that and he thought he was just too busy - or maybe too worried or too upset with him. Speed had tried hard to prepare himself to face H again. He'd gone through the scenario over and over again in his head, but now that it came to it, he had to admit, he was not prepared at all. Horatio still had this fatherly attitude he deeply admired, but right now it made him feel ashamed and guilty for giving all of them such a hard time. Trying not to blush in front of Horatio, he just narrowed his eyes and took another swallow from his beer.  
"No, you wouldn't" Speed agreed.  
He lead Horatio to the kitchen table and sat down in front of him hoping his cheeks didn't look as hot as they suddenly felt.  
"So, how are things going at CSI? Eric and Calleigh told me you got someone new in my place?"  
Horatio smiled slightly at him and nodded.  
"Yes.. Ryan Wolfe. He was a patrol officer before he joined CSI. Has to learn a few things but he's good at what he's doing. You will meet him when you come back to the lab. I think you might like him."  
A sardonic smile came across Speed's face as he thought of what Eric had told him about Ryan Wolfe. And as far as he remembered, Eric didn't seem to happy to have Wolfe at the CSI. "We will see", Speed said cryptically.  
Horatio raised an eyebrow at him and nodded. "Yes, we most likely will..."

---

It was later next day and Horatio was walking towards the layout room where he would meet with everyone. It was time to collect what they knew about this case and get everything sorted out so that they hopefully could find the murderer rather soon.  
Eric was already in and watched Ryan arranging and rearranging the photos once again in deep thoughts. When Horatio walked in, Calleigh came over from the shooting stand and joined the session. Even Alexx found the time and passed by.  
Eric caught Horatio's expectant look and sighed deeply before he turned toward the others and started his explanation.  
"Well, Ryan and me attended the doctor in charge of the medication of Julie McMiller. He told us that he'd diagnosed Julie's leukemia eight years ago, when she was an eight-year-old girl. She had been under his medical observation ever since. Nevertheless that didn't prevent various stays in hospital."  
He paused and waited for Ryan to add something to his words, but he remained silent.  
"He also confirmed Sebastian Arnet's statements. Viviane often insisted on accompanying her sister and help her to recover."  
He placed a portfolio of the twin sisters' medical records on the table, so Horatio, Calleigh and Alexx could take a look at them.  
"After Julie's first hospitalization Catherine and George Carson feared their second daughter could have been affected by the disease as well. That fear was appropriate for the sisters are monozygotic twins, meaning they share the same set of genes. Corfield suggested that Viviane shall donate marrow to her sister, but first Viviane had to run through a couple of tests. They proofed to be negative - at least until six weeks ago!"  
"So Viviane had leukemia as well? Damn, that's hard," Calleigh said in a concerned voice. "I really understand, if they could not live with that, but still they seemed to fight for they didn't kill themselves."  
"That is probably true. Well, when Viviane had been tested negative, Corfiel scheduled a marrow transplantation twice, but both times, Julie's body did not accept the graft. So all he could do was prescribing pharmaceuticals that fight only the symptoms, not the germ of the disease," Eric shook his head and placed another folder on the table. "On to a different subject now. We found DNA on the bullet we got out of the tree at the crime scene. It was male, but whoever did this was not in the database nor from Sebastian Arnet. So, we still have nothing."  
Calleigh sighed deeply and looked at everyone before she took over.  
"Monroe and I went to the girls' school to see if we can get a few more information's about them, but it was not really helpful. They told us Viviane was very protective of Julie and that they were hardly seen separated... the only interesting thing was that everyone seemed to think that their 'new father' was creepy."  
Tipping on his chin with two fingers, Eric stared on Calleigh's report.  
"So, do we have any suspects? And what about Sebastian Arnet?"  
"He's got an alibi. We checked it. He couldn't have done it. Besides... why would he give his gun to Viviane just to shoot her a few hours later?"  
"Eric...," Horatio interfered, "did the doctor tell you if the twins had an appointment the afternoon they were killed? Arnet told me something about an appointment he heard about."  
"Well, yes." Eric pointed at his notes. "Julie and Viviane gave Corfield an urgent call, walked into the doctor's practice and fetched up a new prescription for Julie's medication. We also checked on the nearest pharmacies and found a copy of the sales slip. The drugs had been paid with Mr. McMiller's credit card. Unfortunately, no one could tell us who actually purchased them. But from the time on the sales slip it could have been the girls. The only confusing thing is that we found neither pharmaceuticals near their bodies _nor_ their stepfather's credit card. So whoever killed them took both items with him. The only other logical consequence would be that someone else purchased the pharmaceuticals. But somehow, I'm not willing to believe that."  
"And by the way I looked into Julie's diary and I'm actually rather surprised that they purchased anything with their step-fathers money. From what she wrote it was her mother who always gave them whatever money she got, so that they could buy the medicine. He wouldn't give them anything" Ryan threw in quietly.  
"I'm beginning to ask myself, how many pharmaceuticals they purchased," Alexx interjected. She got up from her seat at the door and stepped up to Calleigh's side to look at the analysis of the stomach contents Eric and Valera had done the other day. "Julie McMiller had an unusual high concentration of drugs circulating in her bloodstream meaning she must have taken her daily dose."  
Eric nodded at Alexx' objection. "Yeah, but Viviane was clean. No pharmaceuticals or other chemical material."  
"So, she didn't start to take them?" Calleigh asked in surprise. "But why? If they found out that she had leukemia, she should have taken pharmaceuticals, didn't she? I mean from what we heard in school she was rather strict with Julie about taking her pills. This doesn't make sense. No one mentioned her having a disease or her taking pills or anything. But if Julie had known about it, she wouldn't make sure that Viviane also took them, wouldn't she? Something is so not right here..."  
They all fell silent for a while, thinking about what Calleigh just said and everyone had to agree that something was definitely out of place here.  
And then, suddenly, a dark though came across Eric's mind.  
"What if... what if Viviane had lost her will to live? What if she didn't take the drugs to boost her disease?" He looked at them intensively. "Think about it. Julie was about to die, even her doctor didn't have much hope she could survive! And if Julie was so dear to her, maybe she couldn't stand the thought of living without her sister?"  
"That would be rather stupid..." muttered Ryan and received a few strange look for it.  
Eric snorted silently on Ryan's adressing. _What was he thinking?_  
"Well... whatever made her not take her pills, we will have to find it out," Horatio said. "Everything: if they wanted to die, if they were giving up, where those pharmaceuticals are, who took them, which blood we found on the bullet… simply everything. So, let's go"  
"And what are we going to do? Check the parents again?"  
Eric stared at H, waiting for more detailed orders.  
"That's a beginning. Find out why everyone thinks their stepfather is creepy. Check his financial records, history..."  
Horatio stopped dead as he saw two patrol officers guiding Jeffrey McMiller down the hall and into an investigation room. Seconds later Monroe knocked on the door and busted in without waiting for an invitation.  
"Lieutenant Caine? My men found McMiller speeding on the highway. He had drugs in his car. And as I know he is involved in your current investigation I thought you might want to talk to him."  
Horatio nodded and thanked him. "Just hang on for a second." With a serious expression on his face he waited for Monroe to leave and wait outside the room. A new, strange silence covered the room while everyone expected Horatio to say something. Finally, he sighed deeply, collected the folders and turned his attention back on his team. "Mr. Wolfe, you come with me. And you two," he pointed at Eric and Calleigh, "Check him and his car, let's see what we find."

---

Monroe lead Lieutenant Caine and his colleague Wolfe into the interrogation room and stood aside Caine's chair, always an eye on Jeffrey McMiller. The detective handed the CSI a report on Jeffrey's mad race.  
"So, shall we start, Lieutenant?"  
Caine nodded slightly watching Jeffrey intently. "So... Mr. McMiller... I believe you know why you are here. How come we found a rather high amount of cocaine in your car? Would you like to explain that?"  
Jeffrey shifted nervously in his chair and watched the lieutenant.  
"That must have been a mistake! I never had anything to do with drugs. I was just driving around because of the girls. Had to clear my thoughts, you know?"  
He did everything he could to be convincing, but the twinkle in Caine's eyes made it clear that he didn't believe a word he said.  
"Yeah, right!" Monroe said ironically, "That's what they all say, when we catch'em."  
The detective opened a pack of chewing gum and plugged one gum into his mouth.  
"Mr. Wolfe?" Caine said with a threatening undertone, not turning his gaze from Jeffrey. "Do me a favor and take a sample of his DNA and bring it to Valera – I'm rather curious where else we might find his _contaminations_."  
Wolfe who had kept to himself suddenly roused from his thoughts and grabbed his toolcase to take the DNA-sample and fingerprints from Jeffrey. The young CSI could see it in his face that he was not very happy about this.  
Lieutenant Caine watched as Ryan took the samples from the twins' step-father, then raised a hand and tapped the young man's shoulder. Wolfe bend down and the lieutenant began to speak into his ear. But what both of them did not know about Jeffrey McMiller: He was exceedingly good at eavesdropping. As a matter of fact, eavesdropping had earned him a lot more money than any honorable and upright job.  
Jeffrey narrowed his eyes and tried to focus on the faint sounds and moving lips. "I want you… Eric's results… find… must be… more to this man than the eye can see."  
Wolfe nodded in silent agreement, straightened up and left the room in a slow walk. The lieutenant leaned his elbows against the table. Jeffrey gulped down his edginess and tried to read Caine's mind by the indefinite sparkle in his eyes.  
"I think, we both know you are lying," Caine told him flatly. "Of course, it could have been that someone wants us to believe you did something wrong, but if you didn't, you won't mind explaining why you weren't telling the truth - or at least not all of it - about your step-daughters, Jeff."  
He paused and let his words effect on Jeffrey. "Neither you, nor your wife told us for example that Viviane had leukemia too. Another very interesting point I would love to understand is the fact that the girls thought they had to secure themselves with a weapon."  
"I don't even know what you are talking about! _I've done nothing wrong!_" Jeffrey shouted, hot under his collar this time. "Why should they be afraid of me?"  
Jeffrey jumped to his feet and the metallic chair slided several meters away from the table and crushed against the wall of glass. Monroe's hand quickly flipped to the holster at his belt. "Ey! You sit down!" he shouted ready to pull his gun.  
Seconds passed by in a hurry as Jeffrey looked daggers at the detective. And then, unwillingly, he grabbed the chair and moved it back into position before he said down again.  
Caine had just raised an eyebrow at him. He was still calm and collected, but this time the odd sparkle in his eyes struck Jeffrey like a thunderbolt. "Well, we'll see about that. But for the time being, you're going to stay here, Jeff, until I give you the permission to leave this building _personally_. And if I find out that you are related to the twins' murder _in any way_, I'm gonna have your everything for it!"  
Caine saw no need to ask his suspect if he'd understood him. His words were as clear as daylight. "Good."  
With that the lieutenant got out of his chair and left Jeffrey and Monroe alone.  
_Boy, how am I going to get me out this time?_ Jeffrey asked himself.  
He never received an answer.

---

Monroe and his men had towed McMiller's car into a nearby police garage to protect the evidence from further outer influence.  
The patrol officers retreated as Eric stepped up to the metallic silver BMW and put on a new pair of gloves to begin his new task. Carefully he extracted two sets of fingerprints and various partial prints from the steering wheel. Most likely the complete sets belonged to Mr. McMiller and his wife. He also found five different hairs on the front- and back-seats. One hair was black so he assumed it was Viviane's hair. Another had the same golden color like Julie's head. The glove box contained nothing unusual. A lot of city maps, an abandoned pack of cigarettes and three compact discs.  
The car was pretty clean. _Too clean for a family car_, he thought skeptically.  
Although toddlers and small children made a greater mess than teenagers, two 16-year-old-girls would have left more traces in their parent's car than this.  
Eric got out again and asked one of the officers to help me open the trunk.  
Ten bags with the weight of one pound each had already been confiscated and had been taken to the lab in a box. Sure enough, Ryan would take the samples of fingerprints, so Eric had no point in bothering about them, so he turned his attention toward the trunk.  
The trunk's floor was carpeted with a dark green rug that showed white powder residue at the brim. He ignited the flashlight and bowed down to take a closer look.  
He'd suspected the penetrating smell of motoroil or anything, maybe the high-dosed cocaine, but it didn't have the same nuances. He firmly grabbed a knife from the toolcase and began to slice the carpet.  
He coughed as the white substance dispersed like dust.  
Jumping back, he snorted to keep the powder from entering his airways and blood. "You're okay?" a policeman asked in surprise and hurried to his side. Waving with one hand, Eric shook is head "I'm alright! I'm alright!"  
He rushed to blow his nose and wash away the white dust that threatened to enter his bloodstream.  
"More cocaine?" Eric asked himself, dedicating himself back to the task and extracting a small amount of the white powder into a bag.  
But - in case it was cocaine under the carpet - why should McMiller hide it like this, when ten heavy bags of pure cocaine lay less secretly in the trunk?  
"McMiller's hiding something we didn't consider before," he muttered.  
He ducked out of the trunk and closed it.  
"All clear, guys, I'm finished!"  
Eric kneeled down beside his toolcase and started packing the evidence into a paper bag, when - suddenly - another penetrating smell struck him. He wrinkled his nose and tried to figure out what it was and why he hadn't smelled it earlier.  
Slightly turning his head toward the car again he caught sight of something that look like water dripping from the underside of the BMW.  
He crouched beside the left tire on the backside and ducked down underneath the car's underside. The smell became even stronger.  
"Gas", he muttered and reached for his flashlight.  
The gasoline dripped out of a damaged conduit right beside the fuel tank.  
He got back to his feet and turned to the patrol officer. "Haven't you guys noticed the tank is leaking?"  
The policeman shook his head with an expression on his face as if he done something terribly wrong.  
"Alright then, let's get the car on a lifting ramp to have a closer look at it!"  
Half an hour later, Eric and two other officers trailed the leakage of the conduit and experienced that people always found the most abnormal places to hide their secrets.  
All upper valves of the tank had been sealed with some sort of superglue and Eric figured that it might be easier to approach the problem from a different ankle. Only a few minutes later a young technician helped them cutting a hole into the half-filled fuel tank...  
And when they finally broke through several liters of gasoline came washing out – as well as an automatic 9mm handgun.  
"Well, that's interesting!" Eric said and picked up the gun, "Calleigh's going to like this one!"

---

Calleigh propped her chin up on her left hand while she was skimming through McMiller's records. His career was pretty ordinary, but something was giving her the creeps as she read the lines in the database.  
Then she caught a name that rang a familiar bell. "What are you doing here?" she asked aloud and full of interest.  
Waiting for the printouts she saw a patrol officer coming into the room. He handed over a gun. "Delko found this in McMiller's car. Could be the murder weapon," he told her. Calleigh grinned back and nodded.  
"Well then I will have a look at this, I'm done here anyway."  
Suddenly the whole case appeared in a different light. None of them had thought the father was involved in such dark business, but obviously that was just the tip of the iceberg.

---

Eric headed into the lab and took out the bag with the white powdery residue from under the trunk's carpet and placed it under the microscope.  
It proved that powder was obviously no cocaine.  
Extracting a small amount of the powder, he mixed it with distilled water and several chemical indicators – he couldn't trust his eyes when the mixture in the test tube turned slightly pink. Nevertheless, his eyes widened even more when he read the final results.  
Rushing out of the lab in a slow run, Eric began searching for Horatio. It looked like they got more than a suspect when Monroe brought Jeffrey McMiller there.

---

Eric crossed Ryan's path as he hurried through another glass door and looked around for Horatio. "Hey, boy!" he greeted him, "Have you seen H? Couldn't find him in the interrogation room!"  
"No, haven't seen him since I collected the samples. But I'm also looking for him. Maybe he is in his office?"  
Ryan raised an eyebrow at Eric and made his way towards H's office. Eric followed and hurried up the staircase right behind him.  
"And why are you searching him? Any interesting news?" Eric asked and tried to be kind.  
"You could say that! One thing is that McMiller's fingerprints were all over the cocaine, no surprise there. But what really surprised me, was this…" Ryan handed him a piece of paper, so he could see the results written on it. "His DNA was on the one bullet Viviane shot."  
"What places him at the crime scene when the two girls got shot and makes him their murderer!" Eric said thoughtfully, "Now I see why the kids said he was creepy."  
He stopped and watched Ryan heading further toward H's office.  
"Hey... Ryan", he said, waiting for his colleague to stop as well.  
With some confusion Ryan turned around and looked at him questioningly. "Yes?"  
Eric combed his hair back, narrowed his eyes and slowly stepped up to him again.  
"Well, I just wanted to say...", he began slowly, a nervous smile on his lips.  
_Just do it!_ he told himself.  
He inhaled the air slowly looked up and straight into his eyes.  
"Good Job."  
Ryan stared at him in surprise, before he smiled slightly and nodded. "Thank you..."  
To say that he was shocked would also have been a total understatement. He'd never thought he would see the day when Eric Delko actually told him he did something right…  
But it felt damn good.  
"Well.. then let's see H," Ryan smiled back at him.  
"Right you are!" Eric agreed and began walking by his side.  
An odd sensation tickled in the pit of Eric's stomach. It was a strange feeling and he didn't know what it meant, but he was somehow relieved he'd told Ryan what he'd thought.

---

Horatio was sitting in his office going through everything again, when Calleigh came rushing in, a huge grin plastered on her face.  
"Good news?" he asked her and he couldn't stop the hopeful undertone that had crept itself into his voice.  
"You bet," she told him still smiling broadly. "Eric found a gun in the fuel tank of McMiller's car and I compared the bullet with the ones we pulled out of Viviane's and Julie's bodies. It was a match, so, we found our murder weapon. McMiller himself has no criminal track record, but I found several files that struck me concerning 'Advansa', the company he works for."  
"What about it?"  
"Three years ago the company was involved in an other cocaine scandal. One of the tradesmen has been accused of drug smuggling and dealing. I looked a little further and _bang!_ that guy turned out to be McMiller's instructor."  
"So, that's how he has gotten attached to the drug dealing business," Horatio guessed.  
There was a soft knock on the door and Horatio knew – by experience as well as by intuition – that it could only be Eric or Ryan.  
Or probably both.  
Eric let Ryan enter first for he was the one with the big news, then walked in himself.  
"Hey", he said casually, "Seems like we're making progress! Ryan, you wanna go first?"  
Ryan nodded slightly and smiled at him. "Sure, thanks." Ryan hurried to hand his result over to Horatio. "We found only McMiller's fingerprints on the cocaine, so everything he said about being set up is utter nonsense. But the interesting part is that it was his DNA on the bullet."  
Eric laid his own printouts on Horatio's desk and waited until he'd finished reading Ryan's results with a satisfied smile. "And – on top of that – I found another white powder underneath the trunk's carpet. I tested it for drugs... well, it wasn't what I'd thought it might be, but finally everything fits together."  
Eric pointed at the readouts of the chemical substance.  
"Looks like I found our missing pharmaceuticals. It's the same stuff Julie's been medicated with to cure her leukemia. McMiller must have grinded it with a pestle and hid it under the carpet."  
Eric casted a look at Ryan, but turned back to Horatio abruptly as Ryan felt his glance weighting on him.  
Horatio nodded at them, satisfaction now written all over his face. "That will be good enough for the jury!" he stood up and smiled. "Looks like we finally got him. Good job, everyone."

---

"Well, we finally saved the day, didn't we?" Eric asked Ryan with a broad smile curling his lips.  
Horatio had left the three of them alone in his office, because he was not interested in wasting time to book Jeffrey McMiller. None of them tried to hinder him.  
Calleigh watched Ryan and Eric ever since they had entered the room and she had to admit she was confused. When exactly had they gotten so friendly with each other? And the glances they were shooting at each other weren't any less confusing.  
"Of course we did, ever thought we wouldn't?" Calleigh answered Eric's comment laughing. "Maybe we should go out for a drink."  
Eric nodded slightly.  
"Sure, why not?" Ryan agreed. Even if he was still confused about what had just happened, he had never been invited out for a drink by any of his coworkers, so he was not going to question the offer.  
"It's decided, then," Eric said and looked at Ryan and Calleigh one after another, "Haven't been out for a while anyway!" Eric collected the results and piled them besides the keyboard of the PC - they would have enough time to work those out the next day. "So, shall we invite H as well? He didn't join us for quite some time, don't you think?" he asked Calleigh.  
"Yes, that's right. Alexx too?"  
"Sure... if her husband's willing to look after the kids!" Eric grinned.  
"I'm sure he'll love too. Then let's do it like this... I'm going to ask Alexx, you H, right?"  
Eric nodded and watched Calleigh leave with a happy smile on her face. He turned to the door and opened it in order to follow her down, when he saw Ryan standing there motionless. "Ryan? You coming?" he asked and his voice sounded far more concerned than he had intended it to be.  
Ryan blinked slightly. He had been deep in thoughts while the two of them were talking. He'd heard the concern in his voice, but dismissed it as an imagination.  
"Sure," he told Eric, smiled slightly and followed him out of H's office.

---

Horatio threw the files on the table and a dark expression spread across the lines of his face as he sat down.  
"We know, Jeff! We know, you killed Viviane and Julie and we got enough evidence to book you for a lifetime!"  
McMiller opened his mouth in order to protest, but Horatio cut him off.  
"I just wanna know one thing: Why? They were two innocent girls, both living on the edge of death, so _why_ did you shoot them?"  
"Innocent? _Innocent?_" McMiller snapped enraged. "That bitch Viviane tried to blackmail me! How dare she! Just because she found some cocaine in my backpack while looking for money she thought, she could do it! I am no man you should mess with and so I gave that bitch what she deserved! And Julie, she was useless anyway. All my wife did was mothering her. It's no loss they are dead!"  
Horatio sucked in the air sharply and held his breath for a moment to calm down. The vehemence and fierceness of McMiller's response shocked him, but within seconds that shock evolved itself into frustration and anger.  
"No loss, hm?" he said with a sardonic smile and tried hard to keep his self-control "Than it wouldn't be a loss either, if I'll have you and your greed locked up in a nice and cozy 6-to-4 meter cell, would it?"  
McMiller frowned at his words.  
"They shouldn't have interfered with my business!"  
Horatio glared at him. "All Viviane wanted was a last chance to spare her sister's life as well as her own. But you didn't give her the money to buy them."  
McMiller snorted. "What makes you think so, lieutenant?"  
"Greed can be a powerful, but also a insidious and deceitful ally, my friend. You tasted blood when you started working for 'Advansa' and you took over the drug dealing for you former instructor. But the money you earned from that business was not meant to be spend on your wife and children, was it?. Greed ist what made you kill Viviane and Julie and greed is what will put you in jail. But you will have the rest of your life to think about what you have done..."  
Horatio stood, but he didn't turn his eyes from McMiller's face.  
"You would have killed them, one way or the other and you knew it. You knew it!"  
McMiller stared at Horatio and the lieutenant could see into the very heart of McMiller's depraved soul.  
"Take him away!" he said and Monroe firmly grabbed McMiller's arm.  
The tradesman put up a fierce resistance, but he knew he was doomed.  
As two additional officers entered the interrogation room to get a hold on the shrieking man, Horatio turned away from the scenery and slam the door shut behind him. He just couldn't stand the sight of McMiller any longer.

---

Alexx was mildly surprised as Calleigh came into her office and invited her out on a drink with the boys. As much as she liked to return home to her husband and children, she did just couldn't refuse the offer.  
She took her blazer off the wardrobe. "So, anything more I should know?" Alexx asked Calleigh who had told her the outcome of the McMiller case. "Well... Maybe" she teased her as they made their way to the elevator where they waited for Eric, Ryan and Horatio. "But I'm sure you'll figure it out yourself."  
Alexx raised an eyebrow in sudden suspicion. "Really? Why don't you tell me? You know, there's no point in hiding something from Mommy!"  
"I know. But a mommy knows her boys, doesn't she, Alexx?" Calleigh said grinning. She just loved those little banters with her old friend.  
Alexx smiled broadly back at her. "Sure she does. What a mommy would she be, if she didn't? Besides, where are they?" she let out a long and deep sigh and shook her head in resignation. "Always too late!"  
"They are boys!" Calleigh laughed. "It's normal for them to be late, isn't it? Well... for most of them at least."  
"Eight you are. Well, we both have our little unpleasant experiences with boys trying to be accurate, don't we, darling?"

---

They walked in silence and it appeared to Eric it was the best not to talk for a while to erase this strange feeling in the pit of his stomach.  
Passing by the interrogation room, they found H standing at the window watching the first traces of dusk. He didn't seem to happy and all of them could perfectly understand his emotions, sometimes more than they desired to.  
Eric stopped dead in a polite distance and pulled up one arm to hinder Ryan from proceeding too.  
"H?" he asked quietly.  
When he heard Eric's voice, Horatio stopped his musings and turned around, his head cocked to one side. "What can I do for you two?"  
"Ehm...", Eric started, "It's just... we wanted to ask you, if you like to have a drink with us? Alexx and Calleigh are waiting for us at the elevator. But we understand, if you don't feel like it, honestly..."  
Horatio's gaze shifted to Ryan – who hurried to nod in agreement – before he looked at the floor for a moment.  
"I think a few drinks wouldn't be bad," Horatio finally told them and looked up again, fiddling with his sunglasses once more. "Well then... let's not make the ladies wait any longer"

* * *

_The end of 'Troubleshooting'...  
Stay tuned for the next episode!_


	2. Holy Mary

**Titel: We Never Close (Season 3 Reloaded)  
Teil: **2/24  
**Autor:** Ayu & Ihu  
**Email:** BoringTVweb.de  
**Rating:** PG-16  
**Pairing:** ---  
**Genre:** Crime, Drama, Dark, Romantic, Comedy  
**Warning:** AU!  
**Disclaimer:** This literary work is a piece of fan fiction. _CSI: Miami_, and all associated content (whether trademarked, copyrighted or otherwise protected by U.S. or international law) are property of CBS and Jerry Bruckheimer and/or their registered trademark and copyright holders.

Not beta-readed, yet!

**

* * *

**

**Ayu & Ihu Productions  
CSI: MIAMI "We Never Close"  
SEASON 3. RELOADED**

Episode 2  
Holy Mary

_She was on__ her way home, her jacket wrapped tightly around her. Deep in thought, she pulled a small photograph out of her pocket and looked at it for a while. A smile formed on her lips. One couldn't see much, but the outlines of a new life were clearly recognizable.  
When she reached her apartment and opened the door, she was slightly surprised to see it unlocked. Confused and slightly worried she entered her home and knew instantly something was amiss. Carefully she made her way into the apartment and went towards the living room, but when she came around the corner her eyes widened in fear at the sight of another person in her home.  
"You?" was all she managed to say, before a gun was pointed directly at her._

_Coming home from partying, Jim Dason was alarmed to find the door of his neighbor Shannon Wilson ajar.  
"Hello?" he called out, before he slowly entered the apartment. "Shannon, are you home? Your door was open and I just…" He never finished the sentence for he saw blood on the carpet. Nearly freaking out, he headed deeper into the apartment, searching for Shannon only to find her in the living room. And what he saw was something he had never imagined seeing. There, on the wall, hung Shannon, hold in place by nails that stuck out of her arms. For a moment, Jim stared at her for in shock, before a scream was forced out of his throat._

Horatio stepped into the apartment and took off his sunglasses. Looking around he found Eric working in the small vestibule, while Calleigh and Alexx were in the living room. From what he saw it was clear that there had been a struggle in the vestibule, so he looked at Eric expectantly.  
"Is there anything you can already tell me?"

When the CSI squad had arrived at the scene, everything had looked like Shannon had just come home when she had been attacked. Eric had found her keys on the floor beside a red coat. The hallstand had been knocked down and droplets of blood had been spilled all over the carpet.

Eric looked up from a bloody footprint he had just secured and nodded at Horatio. "As you can see it is quite obvious that a struggle occurred here. As far as I can tell the victim tried to leave the apartment, based on the patterns of the blood droplets. I found bloody footprints going from the living room out of the apartment, probably from the culprit. But I can't tell you much about them right now. I also got the victim's ID and driver's license from the coat. It's definitely Shannon Wilson. A neighbor of her called the police after he found her like this. He also confirmed that she lived here alone. The door was ajar, but no signs of a forced entry. So, she knew her murderer and let him in or the culprit had a key."

Horatio nodded in appreciation and went on towards the living room, which had become the scene of a bloody drama. The whole room was a mess, blood seemed to be everywhere even though it was concentrated on a puddle in the carpet near the door towards the vestibule and the wall. It was doused with an almost five feet tall blood trail.

Alexx was already there examining the body, while Calleigh worked around in the room. Right now the blond CSI was looking at a ladder which was covered in blood like everything else. Walking over to her, he took a careful look at the object in front of him.  
"What have you got here?"  
"The ladder was found near the wall the victim was pinned on." Calleigh informed him. "You see that?" she asked, pointing at the blood strains. "It appears the ladder was used to hold her against the wall, while whoever did this nailed her onto it. By the amount of blood you find here she was either already dead or close to dying."  
Standing up, she looked at Horatio, a grim look on her face. "She had also been undressed by her murderer. The clothes were piled up on a sideboard at the door."

As Calleigh continued to process her part of the crime scene, the red-haired man turned his attention towards Alexx who was slowly rolling the naked young woman over to her right side to examine the wound on her back, caused by a through and through shot.  
"Bullet ran through her upper torso and penetrated her lungs," she explained calmly without looking up. "But that's not all I found."  
She grabbed the victim's left arm and showed it to Horatio. A large spike was driven into her forearm and stuck between ulna and radius.  
"The same with her right arm." she said. "Someone did like tormenting her while she probably drowned in her own blood." Alexx rolled the woman's dead body on her back again. "No signs for a sexual assault yet. But I can give you further detail on this after the autopsy."  
She shook her wrist so her watch came out of the blazer jacket's sleeve and she started to measure Shannon's body temperature. "Time of death approximately between 5 and 6 a.m."

Horatio stood there motionlessly while he listened to Alexx's explanations. His gaze glided over the outlines of Shannon's face, followed the blood spatter and up the wall with its unintentional red paint on it.  
"So, the culprit shot her when she entered the room", he muttered thoughtfully. "Then he undressed her before he dragged her over to the wall and nailed her onto it. Then the culprit left, leaving her behind like this. How come, none of her neighbors heard a shot?"  
He moved over to Calleigh who now examined the bloody wall. The cone of light from her flashlight pointed at a thin but deep hole where one of the nails had been driven into the bricks.  
He shifted his gaze to his right and found another similar hole almost five feet off.  
"She was nailed to the wall, but why?" he whispered to himself before he turned his attention back on Alexx who had just moved the body into a body bag and closed it with a whir. Letting two of her aides remove the corpse from the crime scene, she looked back at Horatio with a faint smile on her face.  
"I'll keep you posted." she told him, as she grabbed her kit and walked off.  
"Horatio!" Calleigh called, holding up a framed picture. "Look at this, here's Shannon with a young man, maybe her boyfriend."  
"Whoever he is," Horatio said, as he looked past her shoulder and studied the outlines of the man's face. "I'd like to talk to him."

---

Ryan Wolfe was at the lab, catching up on some overdued paperwork and checking on some cases, when he got the call. Needed at a potential crime scene, he was instructed to meet his partner at the address of one Keith Sanders down in South-central Miami. There where no information about what he had to expect and it kind of surprised him that he was going to have help on this. He knew Calleigh and Eric were put on a new case that morning and he didn't think they would be able to help him out in this anytime soon.  
But who knew, maybe Horatio still send one of them...  
Gathering his things, he left the lab and headed towards the given address.

Keith Sanders - a 29-year-old fellow dressed in the blue jumpsuit of an automobile mechanic - was sitting in front of his house waiting for the CSI to arrive. The man seemed scared out of his mind, for he was visibly shaking, his arms wrapped tightly around himself. Even though his black hair fell into his eyes and wouldn't let Ryan see his face clearly, it was obviously that the man was highly distressed by something.  
Climbing out of his car, Ryan headed towards him.  
"Mr. Sanders?" he asked carefully and the other man flinched slightly before he looked up and relaxed a bit. "You're from CSI?" he asked Ryan, his voice shaken.  
Ryan nodded, confused about what was going on. He had got no information about this case and was about to ask what he had been called for, when Keith stood up and walked into the house mentioning the young CSI to follow him. Ryan entered the house and followed Keith into the living room somewhat not prepared for what he saw. He stopped dead in his tracks and held his breath for a second. Now he began to understand what had gotten the man so shaken up. Right before him was a message written on the wall.  
Written with blood.  
_YOU'RE NEXT_

---

Unable to sleep, Tim Speedle had left his apartment in the early morning and showered in the bright colors of the new day dawning. The breeze caressing his face and arms carried the salty taste of the sea and told him once more that he was home again.

He was right on schedule when he got to the laboratory and entered the personnel division. The young woman behind the desk – which he had never seen before or at least could not remember if she had been working at the lab eleven months ago – gave him a new employee pass.  
"Welcome back," she said, stretching out to reach for a slim file, before she flipped it over the smooth desk top toward him. "Lieutenant Caine wanted you to have this."  
Frowning at her words, Speed reached for the file and skimmed through the information inside. Most of it seemed like legal formalities of a standard procedure, so he simply nodded. "Thank you."  
She smiled broadly back at him, showing off her white teeth.  
"No problem, "she said indifferently, playing with a golden bracelet on her right arm. "I assume, I don't need to remind you where you will find your kit and equipment?"  
"Latex gloves can be found where they used to be," Speed responded a little reluctant. Of course he knew where his equipment was.

Turning around slowly, he bit her goodbye and set off from the personnel division toward the elevator and down to the locker room. Waiting for the elevator to get him to the right level, he flipped the file open and took a closer look inside.  
A smile spread across the lines of his face when he found a post-it-note on the inside of the folder with Horatio's handwriting on it.

_Glad to have you back - Take care_

Happy that H had forgiven him his stupid mistake twice, Speed stepped into the elevator and browsed the folder in his hand. By surprise he found another note with an address and the order to meet his partner there as soon as possible.  
_I hope this not one of the _go-easy-on-_cases. I'm up to the challenge!_ he thought in annoyance. But still, whether or not he wanted to come straight back to business, he felt a slight flutter in his stomach.

Walking toward his own locker, his footsteps echoed spectrally from the walls of the locker room and with every step, old memories emerged from the dark corners of his mind. This was where he truly belonged. He'd known that all those years ago when he was first hired by Horatio and he knew it now. But how would Calleigh, Eric and Alexx respond to his sudden recurrence? And would he do as fine as he hoped he would?  
Sighing deeply, he finally made it over to his locker and got his things. Everything was still in a good shape – now he needed to prove if he himself was too.  
_C'mon, Speed,_ he told himself, _there's no time to waste... back to work._  
Thus he grabbed his kit, checked his gun and plugged new latex gloves into his pocket before starting off anew.

---

Keith nearly jumped out of his skin when he heard the doorbell ring. "That should be my colleague." Ryan assured him while he took pictures of the writing.  
"Oh... I...I think that's fine then." Keith said before he carefully opened the door.  
A tall, thin man with black or dark brown hair and a freshly shaved face blinked at Keith when opened the door with his skin completely pale.  
"Mr. Sanders?" the man asked and stretched out his hand to introduce himself, "Timothy Speedle, CSI."  
Keith shook his hand, looked around and closed the door behind him. "A pleasure to meet you."  
"Me too..." the other man said, irritated by Keith's shaking appearance.

Ryan halted for a second and looked up to find no other then Timothy Speedle standing next to Keith Sanders.  
_Just great..._  
He had seen Speedle's face on several pictures, so it was not really difficult to tell it was him and now he had to work with him. Normally that wouldn't have been a problem, but in his opinion it was not really pleasurable to work with someone who's reappearance could get you fired. Slightly shaking his head Ryan decided to get back to work. It wouldn't help him any if he just stood here and starred at Speedle.

---

Speed heard the familiar _snap_ of the camera in the hall and knew his partner had started the job already.  
When Speed entered he mustered the young man from head to foot – the dark hair, the pale taint – and recalled a description Eric had given him many weeks ago.  
"Hello", he said aloud to get Wolfe's attention, but all he could get from his counterpart was a indifferent nod in his direction and a murmured "Hello." in return. Speed frowned as he caught the defiant attitude of Wolfe - and he would not let the younger man get away with it.  
Once more Speed stretched out his hand to greet Wolfe as politely as possible.  
"Tim Speedle," he said, "You're Ryan Wolfe, are you not?"  
Ryan shook his hand and nodded. "Yes, that would be me."  
Then Wolfe hastened to return to his work and began taking pictures again.

Speed stepped beside him and tried to get an impression of the bloody image. "This sure is alarming," he said and nestled on his camera, but the lenses seem to slip through his fingers.  
Now that he needed to concentrate on his job, he felt uneasy again. Being a CSI meant having a finger on Miami's criminal pulse and he had lost his touch almost completely. Now it was hard work to adjust again and Wolfe's professionalism didn't do much to make him feel any better.

Ryan put the camera aside, pulled out the swabs and took samples from the blood, throwing side glances at Speed.  
"Need help?" he asked carefully. He didn't want to sound like he felt he knew this job better then Speedle did – he certainly did not – but he had come to the conclusion that it must be hard to get back on the job after such a long period. The young man just hoped that Speedle might understand this.

Speed stared at him and had some difficulties to hide his annoyance. Knowing he need to adjust was one thing, but making his inability so obvious with a simple question was totally different...  
"No!" he said tartly, trying to handle the camera properly, "Everything's... fine!"  
Ryan raised an eyebrow at him and shrugged. "Okay..." he said slowly and went back to work.  
Giving an unnerved sigh, Speed went over to the desk, where Sanders had laid out some of the letters he'd received properly. He photographed them, then looked up at the young man, who'd retreated into one corner of the room.  
"Mr. Sanders! Since when exactly do you receive these letters?"

Keith flinched again as he was addressed and looked at him shyly. Then he thought about the question for a few seconds before answering.  
"It started about... a week and a half ago... I think."  
Speed made a mental note on his comment and finished taking photos.  
"So, that makes it 10 to 11 days since you received the first letter? I see at least eight of them, so why did you wait so long before you called 911?"  
"I thought it was not important, honestly. See, the letters weren't that threatening... I just thought someone was making fun of me or something, but this on the other hand..." Keith said gesturing at the writing on his wall. His breath was still fast and erratic. "I just don't understand this. Whoever would do something like this... that's sick..."  
"Don't worry, we're here to figure that out, because _I'd_ consider these letters in addiction to that painting on your wall as really threatening. The person who did this will continue until he or she is fully satisfied, even when it takes a murder to do so. Maybe we can prevent that sort of crime. And you really have no idea who could do something like that? Anyone who could look at you as his or her enemy of some kind?"  
Keith shook is head and let out a tired sigh. "No sorry, I have no idea… I never had problems with anyone… mostly at least… and if I had it was so trivial, that I can't even think of something like this to happen."

Speed nodded, put on a pair of gloves and took out the brush to search the letters for fingerprints, before he stored them in a paper bag.  
But then, suddenly and without any intention, the bag slipped through his fingers and the sheets fluttered out of the bag like tinsel on an Independence Day parade. "Damnit", he muttered silently to himself.

Wolfe watched the letters fluttering to the ground and sighed softly. Since he didn't want to annoy Speedle any further especially after his little question he thought about just ignoring what had just happened, but in the end he still kneeled down and started to help picking the letters up and handed them to Speedle.  
Speed snatched the letters from Wolfe and stored them once again, correctly this time.  
Then Ryan and Speed turned their attention towards the rest of the house. There were no evidence of a forced entry, so they had no idea how whoever wrote the message got into the house.  
"Well, Mr. Sanders, looks like there's nothing more we can do right now. Here's my card. Call when anything happens, especially when it appears threatening to you, right?" Speed said, drawing a little card from his trouser pocket.  
Keith nodded understanding. "Of course. I will do that..."  
Speed nodded in appreciation, then stepped through the front door and rejoined with Wolfe again who stood there motionlessly and waited in silence. Speed couldn't help it, but he was not to delighted with Wolfe's presence for it made him feel like a fool who didn't know how to do his job.  
As they reached the sidewalk and the door of Sanders' house closed behind them, Speed stopped and sighed deeply again.  
"Well... that was odd..." Wolfe muttered more to himself than to his partner.  
"You can say that", Speed agreed.

They continued they way towards their cars and put their kit away. Ryan turned towards Speedle watching him for a short moment, before he addressed him.  
"I will head back to the lab. See you there." he told him briefly, before he climbed into his car and took of. While he made his way over to the lab he let his thoughts wander. Ryan had absolutely no idea how he should behave around Speedle. Sure, he didn't really have any bad opinions about him and he shouldn't have, since he did not know him. But the younger CSI still couldn't help himself feeling a little bitter towards the other man. Everyone had compared him to Speedle since day one and now Stetler was after him, because Speedle was back and Ryan was not sure what Horatio would do. Of course he didn't want to believe that Horatio would agree with Stetler and get him fired, but then again he got Speedle back and there was no need to have a rookie in the team anymore. Ryan really hated to think about Horatio like that. He respected the older man and knew he cared about people, but still he couldn't help but wonder. After all… Horatio still called him Wolfe…

---

Calleigh, Eric, Alexx and Horatio where standing in one of the hallways talking about their case, when the elevator doors slid open and revealed one Timothy Speedle. Calleigh couldn't believe her eyes when she saw him walking out and heading straight towards them. They all starred at Speed as if they couldn't believe they really saw him and for a moment he seemed nervous about this, before he merrily grinned at them.

At first Calleigh did not know what she should do, but then she let out a happy squeal and hugged him tightly.  
"Speed! Why didn't you tell us you'd be back today? Oh my, I'm so glad to see you save and sound!" exclaimed the blonde woman happily, never once loosening her grip.  
Speed was totally astonished and caught off guard by Calleigh's sudden embrace, but he smiled shyly down at her and patted her shoulder softly.  
"This was meant to be a surprise", he explained and finally hugged her back, before letting go again, "And I'm glad to be back, too."  
Calleigh still didn't seem to want to let go as Eric stepped beside them and shook hands with Speed before he gave him a pad on the back, which was returned enthusiastically.  
"That surprise was clearly successful" he said smiling broadly, while Calleigh laughed happily and nodded in agreement.  
"Yes it was." then suddenly her expression became serious again, as she let go of Speed, took a step back and mustered him with a stern glance. "And don't you do something stupid like that again, ever!"  
Speed blushed slightly and looked at the floor in embarrassment before he nodded.  
"I… I promise…" he said with a small voice, obviously feeling guilty. "But I think, all of you will take care I keep that promise this time, don't you?"  
Watching his friends with a sheepish look on his face, he regarded the seriousness on their faces as they nodded their heads.  
"That you can be sure of"

Alexx stood still motionless beside Horatio watching the scene that displayed itself in front of them, fighting back the tears that threatened overcome her since the moment she saw Speed walking out of the elevator Everything seemed so unreal to her. She hadn't dared to think about the day her Timmy-boy would finally be reunited with them. She had imagined it, how it might feel like to have him back, but the happiness in her heart was far more intense than she thought it would ever be.

Noticing the smile that had set itself firmly on Horatio's lips and his lack of surprise, she got suspicious.  
"You knew he'd come back today, didn't you?" Alexx asked with a shaking voice full of suppressed emotions.  
"I did" he told her smirking slightly and nodding.  
"That was nasty", the woman accused Horatio, but he knew that she didn't mean it the way it sounded.  
Turning back to Speed Alexx walked over to him as well and hugged him just as tightly as Calleigh had a few moments ago.  
"Welcome back, Timmy" she whispered to him and a new wave of relieve washed over her, as he smiled at her.

It was Horatio who finally pulled them out of their peaceful moment.  
"As much as I hate to interrupt you. We still have work to do."  
Speed looked at him and nodded in agreement.  
"Yes, that's probably true. I didn't mean to keep you from work. By the way…", he stopped for a moment and walked towards him, stretching out one hand to greet him properly. "Thank you."  
Horatio shook his hand, before he pulled the younger man into a hug. When he released him he grinned at the others. "Now then, back to work, everyone."

-----

Ryan had directly started with processing the evidence he collected, when he got back to the lab. From where he stood he had been able to watch the scene when Speedle had walked out of the elevator and the others had spotted him. It was then when he made himself realize, that he would probably never really fit into their little family of friends. Even though it was quite obvious now, that he was not here to take Speedles place, he himself couldn't be sure how much longer he would be in the office. Especially after that conversation he had with Stetler. And even if he stayed he doubted that anything would change at all. Sighing softly Ryan tried to forget about all his insecurities and to just do his job praying that everything would sort itself out in the end.  
Deciding to develop the pictures he had taken at the crime scene he quickly left the room, before Speedle would come in. He silently berated himself for avoiding his coworker, but he couldn't help feeling misplaced when working with Timothy Speedle and besides that their first encounter at the crime scene had not been to welcoming. Even tough he had to admit that this had partly been his fault.

---

Being told to get back to their cases Calleigh and Alexx contently patted Speeds shoulder once more, smiling happily, before they made their way to the autopsy theater. Eric looked at his friend once more, relieved to have his friend back at work.  
"You know, it's good to have you back" he said after a slight pause and grinned at the other CSI as he walked past him and grabbed the back containing evidence he had to run past Valera.  
Out of the corner of his eyes Eric noticed Ryan who had watched the welcoming ceremony of Speed silently. There was a look on his face the Cuban was unable to read and that certainly didn't stop the confusing from surfacing as he watched the hazel eyes narrow in what could have been annoyance before Ryan hurried of with a film spool in one hand. Not understanding this reaction, but realizing that it wouldn't do him any good if he stayed and wondered about this he continued his way towards the DNA-Lab. He would have enough time to think about Ryan Wolfe's strange behavior later on.

---

Once he entered the DNA-Lab and briefly told Valera what he'd got the talked about the latest on-goings inside the lab for a while. It was when Eric leaned on the edge of the table and looked over Valera's shoulder, while she tested some of the blood they had found in Miss Wilson's apartment that none other than Ryan walked into the room. Straightening up and casting a quick glance at the younger CSI, he decided to remain silent for the moment even though he wanted nothing more than to ask a few questions concerning his reactions over Speed's arrival.

It was then that Valera looked up from her microscope, slightly smiling at Ryan.  
"Ryan? How may I help you?"  
Returning the smile he shot a quick glance at Eric, before returning his full attention back towards Valera.  
"Have you had the time to take a look at the blood samples I gave you?" he asked, a questioning look on his face. Eric couldn't help himself to think of a small puppy and how Alexx would probably love to see this. And really he shouldn't think like that, especially since the two of them were not at best terms and Ryan was still too insecure to forget about the treatment they had given him, even though Eric had to admit that he kind of liked working with the other man by now.  
Smiling in apology Valera shook her head slightly.  
"I'm sorry, but I need to finish this one first." She nodded towards her microscope, "but as soon as I'm finished I will get started on your samples, okay?"  
"Right, call me when you're finished, yes?"  
As soon as Valera had agreed Ryan left, heading back to wherever he was before. Blinking a few times Eric silently asked himself if the other had always seemed so nervous around them. Shaking his head in confusion he looked back at Valera, hoping he would get his results soon. He had spend entirely to much time thinking about Ryan's strange behavior already.

---

Back in the layout room, Speed had taken out the letter's he'd confiscated at Sanders house. After he lay them down orderly and started to arrange them until he was fully satisfied he began looking at them more closely. Maybe there was some sort of a pattern or secret code hidden that waited to be found.  
Sighing deeply, he swayed the letters around, but they remained to be a accumulation of paper shavings of cut-out letters. All of them where vague and so he just couldn't pin-point the reason why someone like Sanders would be threatened at all.  
"Okay, looks like I need to check them for fingerprints." he muttered to himself and started to get them ready for it. While doing the standard procedure he let his mind drift a little, thinking about his coworkers reactions. He was very relieved that everyone's anger and sadness at his stupidity had vanished. In fact, it felt like a great weight had been lifted from his shoulders. Even though Speed would never admit it aloud he'd feared the moment of reunion since he'd left to the rehabilitation in North Dakota. But it was over and all that left was a feeling of unspoken pleasure, which left him smiling.

The only thing that left a somewhat bitter taste was Ryan Wolfe. Their first encounter hadn't been all too exhilarating and Speed began to understand why Eric didn't know what to think of the guy. Sure, he was highly professional, ambitious and in love with his job just like every CSI. But there was something about him Eric hadn't figured out in the last 10 months since Speeds departure and obviously he himself wasn't going to do any better.

Looking up his smile slowly faded away, as he watched Ryan Wolfe enter the room, carrying a folder with photographs. Deciding to keep it all on a professional basis he fixed his gaze back on the letters and fingerprints he was about to extract.  
"Anything new?"  
Obviously Wolfe seemed to share his thoughts as he started to arrange the pictures to his likening.  
"No, not really. Valera still has to process the DNA-samples and I don't think the photographs of the crime scene will get us any further information about who did this and why. Found anything on the letters yet?"  
"A few fingerprints, but I fear they are Sanders'. He probably had not thought about wearing gloves while reading this. I have to admit that I think there is only a very small chance that the suspect was stupid enough to leave fingerprints if he or she was able to get into his house without leaving any obvious evidence. But I still fount some remarkable residue of dried liquid. Might be water or something. I'm not sure if that will help us, but who knows." Looking up Speed watched Wolfe silently for a moment as the younger man rearranged the letters and photos on the table. "I will try to find out of which ingredients the paper was made so we may get a clue that helps us. And I will also check out what kind of water dropped onto the sheets – calcification and that stuff. But first I will see if we may be lucky and some of this prints aren't Sanders'."  
Nodding in agreement the brown-haired CSI looked up. "That would be great. I really hope we find whoever did this fast. We don't know what he's going to do after all."  
"Yeah", the older commented dryly, "Some people in this hell of town are just as crazy as loons"

Frowning slightly he waited silently for the other to say something to this, but he realized quickly that he had sunken into his thoughts.  
"You wanna go with the chemical analyzes or shall I do that?" Speed finally asked as friendly as possible. Sure, he was annoyed about his own stupidity, but he tried not to be prejudicial on Ryan – Eric had some points when he described him, but he knew his best friend was good at overreacting sometimes.  
"Ah… you can do that." came the distracted reply, "I will see if we get anything out of this pictures. Maybe we missed something. I mean we still don't know how the person got into Sanders house, do we?"  
"That's right" Speed had to agree, after a short silence adding: "Besides, I heard you're good at this stuff. Deciphering patterns and codes, I mean."  
Blinking in slight confusion it was obvious to everyone who cared to look closely enough that Wolfe tried hard not to blush at his statement and to Speed that made clear the younger man was not used to being complimented for his skills.  
"Well… thanks, I guess"  
The reply even sounded insecure to him and so he couldn't fight the smile that spread over his face.  
"Well, don't thank me, for I've just heard it was like this" he said, not caring that he now really got Wolfe to blush a bright red, while grabbing one of the letters and cutting of a small piece of if for further examination.  
"So then… who should I thank for this?" Wolfe asked, eyebrow raised.  
Looking at him with a straight face he mustered him closely before he finally answered in a completely neutral tone.  
"Is that somehow important?"  
Okay, maybe it was not nice not to tell him, but why should be make it easy on him. After all Speed didn't even know him more than a few hours and they definitely weren't overly friendly.  
"Maybe it is to me"  
Now that was a surprise indeed. Not only that the other had nearly whispered this sentence he really looked sincere.  
"Well, you may guess." Taking the piece of paper Speed slowly headed for the door. "But I'll give you a hint. It was neither Calleigh, nor Horatio"  
This left the other CSI with only two options: Alexx or Eric. Speed was sure that he would never guess correct on this, but it was still fun to see the wheels turning as Wolfe tried to figure out who could have said something like this about him. But as the silence stretched a little longer Speed had to wonder how the other man stood with the team if he couldn't even a decision like that as easily as one should after nearly being on the team for a year.  
"Alexx?" came finally the hesitant reply.  
Speed turned to face him once more and raised and eyebrow. It was obvious that that guy sure had no clue, but that gave his character a clumsy and somehow innocent note – and it made him feel better with his own stupidity that had bothered him this morning. So he smirked slightly, titling his head to one side.  
"You sure?"  
"How could I?" came the indifferent reply, which made his grin freeze on his face. Even though he had just wanted to torment the other a little longer this came unexpected. Not knowing what to say Speed finally left the room to get some more work done and leave Wolfe in peace with his thoughts. All the while being more than aware that he himself had never expected Eric being the one to praise Wolfe.

----

Ryan sighed slightly as he watched Speedle leave the room and walk down the hallway. He was no wiser then before and no matter how he looked at it he couldn't pinpoint who would have said it. As far as he knew Eric never held the highest opinions for him, even though he could be kind of nice sometimes. Still he doubted that he was the one to tell Speedle something like that. And Alexx… Well he thought she didn't have too much contact with Speed since he had been in rehabilitation, because she couldn't visit him herself, but that didn't have to mean anything. Not to mention that she sure as hell would not tell Ryan of all people if she had been talking to Speed, but still it had seemed more like a possibility then Eric. But Speeds question had him doubt that again.

Returning to the photographs he decided that it probably wouldn't matter anyway and that he should concentrate on work. Because whoever said this would not be able to get his mind of the hole fiasco that had started with Stetler. Even though he more or less told him, that he would give him a chance Ryan somehow couldn't give much for his word.

----

On a remote street, Suzie Barnham kept to the right and stopped the car on the breakdown lane. Her daughter Madison sat on the backseat and looked out of the window, just as calm as ever. All in all it could have been just an ordinary day, but Suzie knew it wasn't. Sighing deeply she grabbed her cell phone from the glove box hesitating for a moment. Her eyes rested on the pile of blank forms on the passenger's front-seat and she couldn't help but ask herself if this was the right thing to do. The blond woman knew it was even though a small part of herself was still denying the truth, but it was useless to hide from it any longer. It wouldn't help her and it certainly would not be any good for Madison and if there was one thing that she wanted more than anything it was for her daughter to be happy. And in order for her to be happy this was a step she had to do. Taking a deep breath she finally opened the phone and searched the phone book for Horatio's number.  
Giving herself no time for further hesitation she quickly pushed the dial-button, her heart thundering in her chest. Suzie had never been this nervous when calling Horatio. Not even when she had been in trouble and needed his help. But this time it was something completely different.  
Hearing the phone dial Horatio's number, followed by the call connected signal she waited patiently for him to answer, but nothing happened which confused her a little.  
Usually, Horatio picked up his phone so quickly that it caught her by surprise.  
Finally, there was a slight crack in the connection, then the mechanic voice of the mailbox.  
Turning her head and smiling softly at Madison, who seemed so peaceful and calm as if she was far away in her own perfect world, he listened to the voice before it finally trailed off. Waiting for the beep so she could get my message on record, she played with a strand of her blonde hair trying to calm her nerves.  
"Hi Horatio. This... this is Suzie. I know you're busy and that we said we would meet next Friday. But... we need to talk, so I have to see you as soon as possible. I'll be waiting downtown at a café called _Esperanza_." She turned her attention towards a small card and read out the address. "I have Madison with me. She'll be glad to see you. I will hopefully see you later. Thanks, Horatio."  
With that, she closed the cell phone and stuffed it back into the glove box before she sighed deeply again. Starting the car again she took of to the café she mentioned to Horatio.

---

Marianne Wilson made the sign of cross twice when Horatio opened the file and stretched out his hand to show her the picture of a cambered figure that had once been her daughter.  
Her slim body over and over covered with blood.  
"May she rest in peace," she muttered to herself and folded her hands for a prayer. "Our Father, which art in heaven. Hallowed be thy name. Thy kingdom come. Thy will be done, in earth as it is in heaven."  
Horatio sat down on the opposite side of the table and looked at Shannon's mother in surprise when he heard her prayer. "Mrs. Wilson..." he began slowly as her voice faded into silence.  
"Miss," she corrected him immediately, her eyes still closed and her hands folded before her chest.  
"Miss Wilson, I'm really sorry that this happened to your daughter. And I know it's hard for you, but I have to ask you a few questions about her. Do you have any idea who would do something like that to your daughter? Did she have any problems?"  
Muttering some more words to the Lord, she didn't notice the lieutenant had dropped a question at first. But then she blinked at him and fixed her dazzled gaze on Horatio.

He really did not know what to think of this woman. Since the moment she came into the interrogation room, she was calm and collected and had not shed a single tear over the loss of her daughter. It was kind of strange, but he would not judge her over this.  
"There would be just one, who would punish her sins," she said slowly and made the sign of the cross again. "But his punishment shall be her redemption as well."  
He was tempted to roll his eyes, but succeeded not to do so. "What do you mean with that?"  
She stopped her praying suddenly and gave him an inquiring look as if he had offended her in some way.  
"Lieutenant Caine, are you a religious man?" she asked flatly in return.  
Slowly blinking in surprise Horatio decided not to answer that question, but it seemed that he did not have to, since Miss Wilson already kept on talking.  
"The only one to punish her would be god, lieutenant. That should be fairly obvious. No-one else would ever have the wisdom to judge."  
Smiling slightly and nodding his head once Horatio decided to himself, that Marianne Wilson was one of the strangest persons he had met in a long time. He really did not know what to make of her, but even if she had an religious fetish it was no reason to pass judgment on her. Shooting her a calculating look he realized that he wouldn't get any straight answers from her and so he stood, ready to end this conversation.  
"Thank you, Miss Wilson. I will inform you as soon as we know what happened to your daughter" he told her, before he walked her towards the elevator and watched her leave. It was one of those few times he was glad someone had left the lab.  
Shaking his head and still not knowing what to make out of the conversation they just had, Horatio headed back towards his office, to collect his cell phone waiting with a message for him to hear.  
'_Hi Horatio, this… this is Suzie…'_

---

Walking down the hallway Speed let his thoughts return to Eric and his opinion about Wolfe. Eric had quite often told him that he couldn't stand the sight of the other CSI. But still, Speed slowly got the feeling Eric had met Ryan just in the wrong moment. Otherwise, he wouldn't be making a lot of unusual and positive comments on Ryan.

Remembering back all these years, Eric and he didn't start off well either. They both had been newbie's in this job and thought they could change the world. Needless to say that they quickly had to realize they could not, even though they never let that thought keeping them down. Smiling fondly Speed thought about how they had tried to excel each other in their job. How often had they had gotten into fights with each other? He could still remember how they had once shouted at each other because each of them thought he was holding the pipette correctly and the other didn't. In the end Horatio had to interfere in this matter. Dragging them both to a bar after work so that they could sort out everything had probably been one of the best things that man had done for them. After all they had turned out to be best friends.

As he entered Trace a new wave of melancholy overcame him.  
This was the place where he and Eric had first met; this was the place where they fought each other.  
And this was the place where they had become friends at last.  
But for now, Eric was nowhere in sight, so Speed stepped up to the workplace and took out the scrap of paper and a new iPod, he'd brought several months ago. Covering his ears with the headphones he turned on the music and got to work. It felt like the old days. Music had always helped him forget the world around him and fully concentrate on the task.

While he ran the scrap through a couple of tests and chemical reactions, Speed didn't notice how Eric entered the room, a folder with Valera's results from the DNA.  
His mouth moved, but the other man had gotten so washed away by the music that he did not hear it. Suddenly, he felt a tip on his shoulder that roused him from his thoughts instantly.  
"Hey! You're gettin' easily frightened or something?" Eric asked with a broad smile.  
Hanging the headphones around his neck, Speed stared at him with a straight face.  
"No!" was said calmly as he laid down the pipette "What's up?"  
Eric helped himself to a small stool that stood in a corner of the room and sat down.  
"Nothing. I'm just waiting for H to finish his interrogation with the mother of our latest victim." he said.  
"Ah, I see. So, you just need someone to entertain you, then?" Speed said tartly.  
Eric couldn't help to let out a small laughter. "We didn't have the time to talk when you came back this morning, so I wanted to check everything's OK," he explained.  
Leaning against the edge of the table, Speed's eyes still fixed on Eric's face as if looking for something.  
"No girlfriend this week you can worry about?"  
His only answer was a grin, that did give nothing away. He let a deep sight and gazed at his work. "I'm fine. Alright? I'm absolutely fine."  
Eric nodded slowly and narrowed his eyes to the various items on the table. "And you get on well with everything?"  
"Stop bothering, Eric, I know how to do my job"  
It really bothered him that everyone seemed to think he was to stupid to do anything by himself any longer.  
"It's just...", his words trailed off, "You've been off for almost 11 months. Besides Ryan..."  
"Oh, please", Speed remarked dryly, "Let go of that boy's ambition, will you? Besides, if you don't like him, why you're talking about him that much?"  
Eric frowned suddenly and gave me confused look. "Uhm..." he started, but he never finished the sentence. A smile appeared on Speeds lips that turned to a faint laughter. "You should see your face!" he finally managed to said half-laughing.  
Eric got up from the stool and stored it in the corner on the backside again. "Why's it always me you guys are teasing?" he asked in an innocent voice. "With you, it's the most tempting." was stated and the other man watched him coming to his side. Eric patted his back once more and Speed felt comfortable, as if he'd never been on this unfortunate convalescent leave.  
"Have plans after work?" he suddenly asked the Cuban. "Or may I borrow some time of yours for a drink?"  
Seeing the grin that formed itself on Eric's face he wondered what kind of remark the other thought about. "Missed me that much?" he asked, obviously pleased, "No, I don't have particular plans. Let's met in the entrance hall around 6 p.m.?"  
"Copied"  
Yes, Speed decided, it was good to be back.

---

It was 15:30h and Suzie felt this stupid sensation in her stomach. She was afraid Horatio would not come, although he would never let her or Madison down. Still she couldn't help to worry.  
She'd picked the _Esperanza_ because it was usually rather deserted at this time of the day. And still, she entered the Cuba-style veranda and sat down in the corner far off from the rest of the customers. After Suzie had send Madison to the nearby playground, always and eye on what she was doing and had ordered a cup of English tea she let her thoughts wander towards the conversation she was about to have. With every single second that passed by, her heart seemed to beat harder and faster against her ribs until it became almost painful. It was hard to maintain a calm front if only not to worry Madison. Her hands where trembling as she checked for the time once more.  
15:45h

Looking up again the blond woman was relieved as she finally spotted Horatio who went straight towards her, a concerned look on his face.  
"Hey," he greeted her softly and took her appearance in. Feeling even more nervous at his close observation she was glad when he finally sat down. "How are you"  
"Hi. I'm…" Suzie began, stopping mid sentence to think about it for a moment before she continued. "I'm fine."  
She knew that he didn't really believe her, but she couldn't just tell him everything right away. Seeing Madison running towards them, obviously delighted to see her uncle, the blond woman felt like a slight weight lifted off of her shoulders. No matter how quiet and reserved Madison could be sometimes Horatio had always been able to break through her mental barriers that separated her from the rest of the world. She really began to blossom whenever it was around. Suzie felt a light stitch in her heart knowing that she herself had never been able to archive that. Only Horatio – and Bob. But she wouldn't dare to compare them with one another.  
"And how are you?" she asked and tried to look calm and relaxed, but her voice was shaken and a shiver ran down her spine once more. All the while Horatio was watching her clearly concerned, even though he was smiling.  
"I'm fine" he told her, before turning his attention to Madison, greeting her and helping her climb into a chair between the two adults. Suzie couldn't help but think that he would be the perfect father for Madison. How often had she wanted to tell him that, but knowing Horatio he probably wouldn't believe her anyway.  
"Are you sure everything is alright?"

Horatio's question made her focus her attention back towards him. Gently pushing her hair back, she studied the lines of Horatio and Madison's face. When Suzie gave bith to Madison six years ago, she'd pretended she was Bob's daughter, but somehow, she knew that she had never been his girl. And now as her baby set beside her uncle, Suzie realized the senselessness of her deception. Madison seemed like a spitting image of him: The same red hair that shimmered like liquid gold in the sunlight and the same faithful blue eyes. It was funny that she actually looked more like Horatio than like his brother Raymond.  
"Well…" she started and shivered again, while his intensive and inquiring look pressed upon her. "There's no point in lying to you, so I'll get it out right away. In fact, there's no-one else I could talk to anyway… so…"  
Smiling nervously Suzie glimpsed at Madison who glanced at her just as questioningly as Horatio. She may be a child of only six years of age, but she still always seemed to know when something really important was about to be discussed. It didn't make it any easier for her mother to finally get the load of her chest. "I'm quite… desperate, you know."  
"What's wrong, Suzie? Do you have problems? Did something happen?" Horatio inquired frowning.

An impish smile tugged at her lips and sweat began to weten her forehead.  
"Well… yes. I am in trouble and yes, I need your help."  
She grabbed her bag and pulled out a small pile of forms and lay it down on the table. She pushed them over to Horatio, watching him closely to see every ounce of his reaction. The shock was clear on his face as he looked over the files and a confused look was send her way. He was clearly not understanding her need for this, but then he did not know everything yet, so this was quite alright.  
"Suzie, what is this… Listen, it's not that I would not want to take care of Madison, but she needs you to be with here, you are her mother and what the tell is going on here? I really don't understand the meaning of this. Could you please just tell me, what is wrong?"  
Kneading her hands and looking down on her fingers she was silent for a moment.  
"I know all that… but, you see… somehow, I've got the feeling that I will not be able to take care of Madison in the near future and I want to know she's with someone that cares about her." She sighed deeply before continuing. "It's not the kind of trouble you think I'm in again. I promise you, I'm clean and there is no-one to threat me… it's just… I'm ill… seriously ill, Horatio."  
"What do you mean, Suzie? What kind of illness?"  
Worry was written all over her face and she wanted nothing more than to break down and cry her eyes out, tell him everything that bothered her. Fighting back the tears so that Madison would not be worried she turned towards her daughter smiling at her.  
"Daring? Do me a favor and go playing again, okay?"  
Madison looked at her, obviously confused by her request, but she didn't argue. Climbing down her chair she ran off to play. Once Madison was out of range Suzie turned back to Horatio.  
"I'm sorry," she stuttered now unable to hold back her tears any longer. "I… I don't want Madison to know about this yes." She stopped again and appreciated Horatio's silence. "I'm diagnosed with… with cancer, final stage."  
"You… what?" There was a small pause before he continues. "Since when do you know this? Are you sure there is no way to help you? I mean there has to!"  
Suzie couldn't help, but smile at his outburst. It was good to know that at least someone cared, still she felt slightly guilty that she had to worry him. After all he had done for her over the years she had always wanted to do something for him too, and now she would probably never be able to.  
"There is nothing to do anymore, Horatio. I had a bad feeling for some time already when I finally consulted a doctor. He said there was not much left for them to do in order to help me. I could have a chemo, but the chances of heeling are nearly nonexistent. It would probably help me to life a little bit longer and I really thought about it. In the end I decided that I want to make as much out of the time I have left, spending it with my daughter instead of being in a hospital most of the time."  
A deep sadness filled her as she watched Madison for a moment as she played happily with the other kids on the playground. Wiping away the fresh tears that rolled down her cheeks she looked at the man in front of her pleadingly.  
"Please, you got to help. I couldn't stand the thought of me dying and never knowing that Madison will be in good care. I know you will be able to do this and she loves you. I don't want to bother you, but I don't know who else I could ask. I would never be able to forgive myself if she was send to an orphanage. And I dare not to think about Bob having custody for Madison. Please, Horatio, you're the only one I can trust with this."  
It was clear to anyone who cared to look that Horatio was quite uncomfortable about this. Sighing deeply he took Suzie's hands in his own.  
"I really have to think about this, okay? But I assure you that no matter what happened Madison will be taken good care of. She will be loved."  
"Thank you!" the blond woman sobbed. "Thank you, Horatio. That is more than I could ever ask for. She has no other relatives left and… it's just… she really loves you. I just want to make sure Madison will be fine after my… after my…" No matter how hard she tried she couldn't complete her sentence. It was like saying that she was about to die made it more real. She knew it was non the less. She felt herself being pulled into an embrace by Horatio and could finally let her tears flow freely for the first time since she knew of her illness.  
"You can call me whenever you need something, I hope you know that"  
Horatio's voice let a small smile appear on her face and she wiped her tears away.  
"Yes, I know that, but I'll be fine and hopefully Madison too."  
"It's okay to call, Suzie. And Madison will be fine." Horatio assured her and suddenly she felt a bit better.  
"If she is with you, she'll definitely be fine" she whispered softly, knowing that the man had fully understood. His gaze wandered to Madison and a small smile spread over his face.  
"For her and for you, I will do everything I can, you know that Suzie."

---

"What you got for me?" Eric said when he entered the room and looked expectantly at Calleigh who stood aside the printer. Her fair hair was tied up in a most ornate and ingenious way and only one thick strand clung smoothly to her right shoulder when she turned around and smiled at him.  
"Good news!"  
She held up a printout of her results. "Alexx and I took the spikes out of Shannon Wilson's body. Although they're used with nail guns, these two where driven into her arms with a hammer."  
Slowly she pulled out an enlarged and detailed picture of the nail heads. "Nail guns only leave one small hole where the pin hits the head, but here we have multiple points of impact," she explained in a calm voice and settled down onto a stool.  
"Well… I fail to see how that's good news" Eric through in which earned him a slightly annoyed glare from Calleigh.  
"If you would listened until I have told you everything you might understand."  
Nodding Eric arched an eyebrow at her mentioning her to continue, getting another mock glare in return.  
"The through and through shot that killed her came from a Glock 45. I ran it through the system and found thirteen records with thirteen different IDs registered to this type of gun in the area near our crime scene."  
"Well, that are quite a few," Eric said and knit his eyebrows.  
Calleigh smiled knowingly.  
"That's true, but I think, we can dismiss at least twelve of them."  
"And why is that?" Eric asked in confusion.  
She lead him over to a computer and opened the files from the database she had marked. "This is a scan of Shannon Wilson's birth certificate we got from her mother."  
She pointed at the line where the names of the parents should have been noted down, but the father's name was missing. Not even the standard "unknown" was anywhere to be seen.  
"Seems like this one has been tempered with," Eric commented.  
"Yes!" Calleigh agreed. "It had been treated with bleach to erase the father's name."  
"But who did it? The mother? And why would she do something like that?"  
"Most likely. And I really don't know why she would do that. Anyway, I worked on it all afternoon after I came from the ballistic research and this is what I got out of it," Calleigh explained and Eric bended down and stared at the new scan she opened with a few mouse clicks. He frowned and tried to decipher the old typewriter letters on the certificate.  
"Marcus Van Helden," he read out slowly. "So, that's her father's name."  
He paused and watched the screen intently, before he turned his eyes on Calleigh again.  
"So, what's you're point?"

She opened her mouth to answer him, but the slight _clink_ from the door handle interrupted their discussion. "Hey, Alexx. Finished the autopsy?" Calleigh asked smiling even broader.  
"You can say that. Had to open Shannon again for my little darling here," the medical examiner said ironically and tapped Eric's shoulder with a slim folder that she had carried under her arm. "There you go!"  
He took the folder from Alexx and a satisfied smile began to spread across his face. "Thanks, Alexx. That result is bright as daylight."  
Now it was Calleigh's turn to frown at Eric in confusion.  
"What's going on?"  
"You know, I brought the blood samples from the crime scene to the DNA and assisted Valera. We found a uncommon high amount of estrogen and several other hormones in her blood stream. But I needed to make sure Shannon wasn't on the pill," Eric said.  
"Alexx found some sort of... fluid all over Shannon's legs. So I asked her to take a closer look at Shannon's womb."  
"So, you think, she's pregnant?" Calleigh asked an grabbed the folder from Eric's hands.  
"Yes, she _was_," Alexx agreed. "The liquid on her legs proofed to be part of the placenta."  
A shocking silence spread across the room while Calleigh studied the file, her eyes wide open. Alexx was first to break the silence.  
"If you don't mind, I'll be at morgue and try to get over and done with some paperwork." Eric and Calleigh nodded and the clicking sound of Alexx' heels on the floor filled the room as she headed to the door and left.  
"I'm wondering," Calleigh said slowly. "If the culprit knew she was pregnant. Maybe he wanted to end her pregnancy. That would be a motive."  
"Yeah, that's why we need to find that boyfriend or whoever he is," Eric agreed. "But we don't even have a name."  
As if he had just reminded her of something, Calleigh dropped the folder onto the desk and grinned at him.  
"Maybe we don't need the boyfriend's name... yet," she said and nodded towards the screen and the two of them dedicated themselves back on the task Alexx had interrupted. "Here's what I wanted to show you. Van Helden's name was erased from the birth certificate with bleach, good, but now look what I found in the database."  
She stroke a key and the records from the weapon database came flowing in, presenting the picture of 47-year-old Caucasian with brown hair and smoky blue eyes.  
"He's a registered owner of a Glock 45," he said in a voice of surprise.  
"Exactly."  
Eric blinked, then fixed his gaze on Calleigh's face.  
"So, you think he shot his daughter to death?"  
"Innocent until proven guilty," she said tartly. "But I think it wouldn't do any harm if we had a nice chat with Mr. Van Helden, would it?"  
He twisted his mouth and casted quick side glances on his watch.  
_5:45 p.m.  
_"Yeah," he said drawling the word like chewing gum, "That's true. But... maybe we can meet at Van Helden's address tomorrow morning?"  
"Sure!" Calleigh responded blinking, "You're having any plans or something?"  
"Well, yes," Eric admitted. "Speed and I wanted to... have a drink and..."  
"You and Speed are going out and nobody told me?" Calleigh interrupted him in a harsh voice, "How dare you! Did the thought never come to you that I'd like to join your little welcoming party?"  
Eric raised both hands and opened his mouth in order to defend himself, when Calleigh broke out in a laughter. "You shall see your own face!" she squealed in amusement. He smiled sardonically: "I should have known this was a joke! Am I ever gonna get it?"  
"I should hope not, or else we all wouldn't have much to laugh about," Calleigh said and tried hard not to break into another round of loud laughter. She wrote the address on a piece of paper and stuffed to into his hand. "And now off you go. I'll call Horatio and tell him what we found! Have fun tonight."  
Eric smiled and patted her shoulder thankfully.  
"Alright. See ya tomorrow."

---

Due to a long night out with his best friend Delko, exhaustion was written all over Speed's face when he crept into the lab the next morning. Ryan was working all over the Sanders-letters again and illuminated every single one of them with the UV-flashlight. He didn't notice his colleague entered the room until Speed dropped his paper cup of coffee on the table and wearily sank down to a chair.  
"Boy, my second day and I feel like I've worked nonstop for a couple of months already!" he muttered.  
Ryan looked at him, eyebrow raised and shook his head. A mocking smile began to spread over his face.  
"Well, you just had to get out last night, after your first day of work, it's just natural. You body has to adjust to the feeling of work again, after all. And you know what they say…"  
With that he turned his attention back towards the letters until he remembered something.  
"A-ha, by the way what was it you found out yesterday?"  
Blinking slightly and not knowing whether to smile or to frown, Speed decided to dismiss his approval of ultimate wisdom and knowledge, and dedicated himself back to the task. "Yes, I found something. Not much of it, but at least something to work with," he said, his voice dripping with something that sounded like boredom. "The water contained chrism, a balm added to holy water in Roman Catholic churches around Easter."  
Ryan looked at him oddly. "Holy water? How got holy water on the letters? That really is strange." He sighed and shook his head. "Well maybe we are lucky and find someone with a strong catholic sense who would threat him... But at least it brings some sense into those letters. All this talk about sin and hell and that he will be punished and so on... Is there any chance that we could find out in which area the church could be?"  
Speed shrugged.  
"Dunno. There are more than enough Roman Catholic churches in this city and we'd be having fun to check 'em all. So, my suggestion is to have a ride back to Keith's house and ask 'im, if he's in touch with someone that has a Christian affinity. Although I strongly doubt he knows such a person."  
Ryan gave him a questioning look. "How come?"  
"Intuition?" Speed asked sarcastically.  
"Yeah, whatever" Ryan took of his gloves and shrugged. "Well, then let's get going. It's not like these are suddenly going to talk to me about who wrote them and if everything we have is this holy water thing, then we should look into it now."  
There was no point in replying to Ryan's objection, so all Speed did was giving his colleague "OK." and another shrug, before he turned around and left.

---

Calleigh waited outside the address she found out the day before and waited for Eric. She was not really surprised that he was already five minutes late, besides it was not as if she didn't have time. For all she knew Marcus Van Helden would be home all day and if not she was here to prevent him from going anywhere. Just as she started wondering, what the boys did last night Erics Hummer parked next to her.  
"Took you long enough" she grinned as he got out and he had the grace to look sheepish. "Sorry, overslept"  
"Thought so, you know I want details about what happened last night, but right now we have a suspect to interrogate!"  
The darkhaired man was rather surprised when he opened the door and found himself eye-to-eye with two CSI. He had no idea, what he could have done, so that they came to him. So he opend the door and let them in. "How may I help you?"  
Presenting his badge to Van Helden, Eric kept a close watch on every single move he did. "Marcus Van Helden?"  
The man nodded. "This is officer Calleigh Duquesne, I'm Eric Delko. We're here on behalf of your daughter's death."  
The man bleached visibly and sat himself heavily on the couch. "My... Shannon... Shannon is dead?" he mumbled and looked up. "What happened? What happened to my daughter? She told me she wanted to get away... And now you tell me she is dead?!?"  
Calleigh looked shortly at Eric and nodded then towards Mr. Van Helden. "We are truly sorry to tell you this way, but your Daughter Shannon Wilson has been killed." She saw the look of total shock in the mans eyes and really dreaded to continue. "Our investigations showed us, that you purchased a Glock 45, would you be so kind to show us your weapon?"  
All of a sudden, the haunted expression on Van Helden's face changed slightly, slowly shifting into nervousity.  
"My... my gun?" he asked, obviously irritated by Calleighs demand. "Wait a sec, you guys think I shot my own daughter? Why should I do something to my girl?"  
"We're here to figure that out", Eric responded. "So, would you please show us your weapon?"  
Van Helden knit his trembling fingers and a the shimmer of cold sweat spread across his forehead.  
"Uhm... well..."  
The man got up from the couch slowly and wandered around in the living room, before he turned around and fixed his gaze on the two CSIs. "Actually... I can't show it to you, because... it's not here..."  
Raising an eyebrow, Eric and Calleigh exchanged a quick glance. "Terrific."  
"You'll have to come with us, Mr. Van Helden. We have a few more questions to ask"  
A defeated look crossed his face, as the older man nodded and followed them outside to be taken to the Crimelab.

Once been brought into the interrogation room he let his head hung low.  
Calleigh watched him from the outside while she and Eric told Horatio, what they had found out. Now they had to found out where the gun was and until then Mr. Van Helden would have no choice but to stay in custody.  
Sitting opposite of Van Helden in the interrogation room, Eric showed the man several pictures Alexx had taken during the autopsy, what made the man shiver. "Mr. Van Helden, we need your help in order to solve this case", Eric pointed out for the fourth or fifth time that day. "Keeping quiet only makes it worse, for you and the memory of your daughter, so, _where_ is your weapon?"

---

Meeting with Wolfe in front of Sanders' house, Speed popped another Aspirin and drank some water to cure his slight headache, before he got out of the car and joined the younger man.  
Ryan rang the bell and instantly a young woman opened the door. "Thank god you are here, you guys are from the police, right? You really took your time. Keith is in the living room. Maybe you can get ANY useful information out of him, he's not talking to me. Just sitting there staring at this stupid picture! He won't even let me see what's on it!"  
With that she left the door open for them to enter and returned inside the house.  
Speed and Ryan exchanged quickly looks and frowned at the same time. "After you", Speed said gesturing Ryan into the house first. Keith Sanders was indeed sitting on the couch in the living room, grabbing a pillow of his couch tightly. Beside him sat the blonde, tall and pretty young woman, which had opened the door and tried to make him talk in vain. "Keith, Darling, what's wrong? Come on, how can we trust each other and our love when you're not willing to talk to me?!" she said in a desperate, but somehow unnerving high-pitched voice. "Obviously his girlfriend", Speed muttered under his breath so only Ryan could hear his words. He was not pleased with the woman's presence at all.

Keith looked up and glared at her before he jumped up, body shaking.  
"Our love? OUR LOVE??? How many time do I have to tell you, that I don't love you?!? We broke up month ago and it's just my good will that you are still allowed in this house AT ALL!! I hate you! You don't know anything! I was happy. I wanted to get away! I loved her! And now she's DEAD! So why can't you fuck off and leave me the hell alone!!"  
The woman shivered at this sudden outburst and stilled in shock, but she recovered quickly, while Keith kept staring at her in wild rage.  
"You.. you loved her?" she asked, her voice dripping with arrogance. She got up from the couch and glared daggers at Keith. Speed and Ryan knew instantly that she was about to loose her temper as well.  
"That dirty little cootie doesn't even know how to love you right! We were meant for each other!" she yelled outraged. "She simply came into our lives and thought, she could take you away from me, uh? I told you once, I told you twice that I will never ever let it come to this, Keith!"  
She took a few steps towards Ryan and Speed, not caring about the CSIs' presence, then turned around and gave her ex-lover one final look. "But, well, now you'll gonna see what you have of it: You and your hand, all alone, all day long! I'll give you three days 'til you knock on my door again!"  
"You have NO RIGHT to talk about her like that, you stupid bitch. And keep dreaming, you will never ever hear from me again, you can be sure of that. And now just GO AWAY!!"  
The woman's mouth opened and closed several times as if she wanted to reply something, but then decided that it would be a lot healthier to stay silent.  
So, she spun around on her heels, a furious grimace on her face, and left, her quick footsteps echoing in the hall.

Speed through a side glance at Ryan and took a deep breath.  
"Uhm... Mr. Sanders?"  
Keith, who had broke drown crying again, just wordlessly handed them the newest letter and the picture.  
Ryan looked over Speeds shoulder, when he read the letter and took a closer look at the photograph.  
"Who is this?" he asked confused. Many questions where forming in his minds while he also thought about the things they had to do. After all they were now dealing with a murder.  
"Shannon Wilson. My girlfriend."  
Speed looked at the picture himself and the same question began to flood into his mind.  
"Okay. Things have gotten a lot worse, I think", he said slowly, scratching his chin.  
"What you think?" he then asked Ryan.  
"You could say that" the younger CSI sighed. "What do you think, should we call H or something like that? Or are we going to her address right away?"  
"No. I think this case got.. out of hand. Maybe we'll need some help", Speed said, slightly turning away from Keith to prevent him from overhearing their conversation. He made out his cell phone from the inside of his trouser pocket. "Besides... that name... Shannon Wilson... somehow rings a familiar bell."  
He dialled a number and waited.  
"Eric? This is Speed. We need your help!"

---

Calleigh and Eric drove to the St Mary's Church after Mr. Van Helden had finally told them that he had given his gun to the Father, not trusting himself any longer. It obviously had something to do with Shannon's mother. As soon as they arrived they started looking for Father Carlos. Once they found him and explained the circumstances to him he made a pray and looked at them with remorse in his eyes.  
"Shannon was such a nice girl. She shouldn't have died this way, but god will look after her. But concerning the gun... Well you see, after I took it from Marcus I had to hold a mass and after that it was, well, gone"  
"Gone?" Eric asked in perfect disbelief. "How can it be gone so easily?"  
Carlos knit his fingers.  
"Well, I stored it in the vestry, you know, in the bottom of the deck, but no-one besides myself and the altar servers have entry to the vestry. And they were all with me, when I said the mass last Sunday. They could not have done it."  
"Did you notice any signs of a forced entry to the vestry then?" Eric asked. Why was finding a single gun that difficult sometimes?  
Carlos shook his head. "No, but this church is very old and I don't know every scratch on this holy walls. I can't tell, if one scratch is a sign of age and another the result of a criminal act!"  
Calleigh and Eric looked at each other, both barely containing a sigh at what they had just heard.  
„Could you show us, where you stored the weapon please? Maybe the intruder left some trace behind…" Calleigh asked the priest, a smile on her face, and she really hoped that this would be the case. Otherwise they would have not even the slightest clue where else to look.  
„Of course, if you may follow"  
Pater Carlos guided them towards the place and the two CSI began searching for any clue, but remained unlucky.  
„Damn…" muttered Eric, clearly unhappy over this outcome and was about to pack his things an leave, when his cellphone started ringing.  
„Delko? … Hm? … Yes, I know that name. That is the name of the woman we found… Yes, why? … What? … We'll be there"

Calleigh looked at him with interest and Eric told her quickly was the call had been about before he turned back to Pater Carlos. „Excuse me, pater, do you by any means know someone with the name Keith Sanders?"  
"Keith Sanders?" the priest repeated as if he was trying to taste the name on his tongue. He frowned in concentration  
„The name is familiar," Carlos admitted slowly. "But I can't recall a face that goes along with the name. Though, I remember Marcus talking about a Keith Sanders. He's an automechanican, isn't he? Marcus said he was a local boy, from our community, but I never saw him at the masses. But does he have to do with poor Shannon?"  
Eric sighed deeply.  
"He's her boyfriend," Calleigh explained calmly. „We think, he's the one, Shannon wanted to get away with, but obviously, someone knew how prevent it. And now Mr. Sanders' life's put in danger as well. And if we're not able to find the person who stole Mr. Van Helden's gun from your vestry, all to soon, Mr. Sanders is going to end up dead, I'm afraid."  
Carlos quivered.  
"I...I don't know who could have taken it!" he repeated. "Not to shoot Shannon. Everyone knows that Marianne and Marcus loathe each other, but nevertheless, they loved their daughter,"  
"We'll prove that", Eric said, slightly turning away from Carlos and grabbing Calleighs upper arm. "Best is to meet with Speed and Ryan at the lab. Maybe the boyfriend can give us more detail!"

---

Back at the lab, Ryan and Speed did various scans and copies of the picture Keith had received along with the latest letter, so the original could be checked for fingerprints and other traces of DNA. "That's sick!" Ryan muttered while he studied the blood covered figure that used to be Shannon Wilson for the tenth time. Speed casted a glance and his colleague and closed down his cell phone. Still no sign or trace of Horatio and whether Alexx nor the receptionist or anyone else in the building knew where he was. It was not his way, being absent with no note left where he might be found in a case of emergency – and the Wilson/Sanders-case was what Speed thought of as an emergency. They needed to move quickly.  
"As I said: Christian affinity," he said.

With that the door behind them flung open and Calleigh and Eric came into the layout room.  
And both stopped dead at the sight of Shannon's picture.  
"Oh my god!" Calleigh said and stepped beside Ryan to have a closer look. "That's sick!"  
"Exactly what I said." Ryan replied and Speed couldn't stop himself from shaking his head. "The picture was send to her boyfriend this morning, together with this letter."  
Ryan handed Calleigh the letter and she and Eric took a closer look at it.  
"So her murderer is most likely the person who is threatening Keith Sanders, but do we have any clue at who it might been? I mean any fingerprints or whatever?"  
Speed was about to reply to her request, when Horatio entered the room, sunglasses in his hands and looked at his team expectantly.  
"What happened? I heard you have knew informations?" he obviously ignored the questioning stares at his sudden entry and to Eric's question at where he had been all this time, he simply told them. "I had some things to take care of"

The team, sensing that they wouldn't get any further information, turned back to the new evidence.  
"it turned out that Keith Sanders is obviously threatened by Shannon's murderer. He was her boyfriend, by the way." Ryan started the explanations. "And the gun was registered on her fathers name, but he handed it to a priest. The problem is, someone stole it from him and we have no idea who." Eric continued with a sigh. "But we still have a clue. Whoever killed Shannon and wrote this letter to Keith has a strong Christian affection, for we found holy water on the letters."  
"Holy water?" Horatio asked and his gaze seem to fix on something no-one else could see. His lips moved silently as if he was recalling the whole story of Shannon Wilson in his head. Then, suddenly, a twinkle appeared in his bright blue eyes and he looked Speed straight in his face. "A Christian affection, you say?"  
"Yes", he repeated and nodded toward the photograph. "Her murder seems to be some sort of crucifixion."  
"This means, someone punished her for the crime – or sin – of being pregnant without getting married first", Eric interjected.  
"Maybe the murderer thought of this as a redemption?" Speed asked his colleague in return. "An act of charity performed in the name of the Lord?"  
"This is no act of charity, this is murder", Ryan said in a serious tone.  
"Thanks", Speed said dryly. "I would not have known that without your enlightenment."  
Ryan opened his mouth in order to reply something, but Horatio cut him off.  
He fumbled with his sunglasses and gave everyone an intuitive look. "Ladies and Gentlemen, looks like we already met someone who to fits that description."

---

When Horatio, Ryan and Speed got to the apartment of Marianne Wilson, no one opened and it became clear, that she was not at home. One of her neighbours confirmed that she drove away about half an hour ago. Not knowing where to search for her, they decided to go to St. Mary Church, when Ryan's cellphone started ringing.  
"Wolfe?" he answered and was greeted with the panicked voice of one Keith Sanders. "You have to help me! She's crazy! She..." he was rudely interrupted by a female voice, that screamed at him, that he had to pay for his sins and the low 'thud' that was heard on the other side of the line gave the conclusion, that the phone fell on the floor.  
"Mr Sanders? Mr. Sanders?" Ryan called. The other two looked at him expectantly and he looked up, clearly troubled by this call. "It looks like we found her. She's at Keith place..."  
They didn't waste any time to go to their cars and drive towards the address and Ryan still listened to the phone where he could here distant screaming and the moment they drove into the drive there was a gunshot.  
„This is not good!" Ryan said to himself and hurried to get out of his car. All three of them ran toward the door, weapons drawn from their holster. Horatio took the lead and slammed the door of Sanders' house open, his gun aiming in various direction. "Miami-Dade Police!" Horatio shouted in a harsh voice.

A painful squealing followed by the crack of glass on wood came as an answer.  
Ryan felt his heart beating just as painfully against his chest as he and Speed ducked through the doorway in unison and flanked Horatio. Though his colleague didn't seem to make a competition out of this, Ryan felt like this was the very moment he had to prove himself and his abilities as a criminalist next to Speedle.  
"Mr. Sanders?" Horatio shouted.  
They moved toward the living room slowly.  
Keith, still trying to get away from that woman he identified as Shannon's mother, hold his left arm, where the bullet had hit him. He stumbled towards the door as soon as he heard the CSI approaching, but Marianne grabbed him at the collar of his shirt and pulled him back harshly. "Don't even think, that they will be able to save you. You have to pay for your sins. You deserve your punishment!" she screeched waving the gun around and pulling him closer to herself. He struggled against her grip, but the weapon pointed as his head sent shivers down his spine and he feared, that a sudden move could make her snap completely.  
He felt a small flicker of hope, when he saw the three persons in his doorway. Letting his eyes roam over them he stopped to look pleadingly at Ryan Wolfe, hoping that he and his colleagues would be able to help him.  
Speed threw a quick look at Ryan who watched Keith's every move with great care as he launched forward, his gun ready in his hand.  
"Miss Wilson!" Horatio shouted aiming at the enraged figure of Marianne Wilson. She fumbled with a Glock 45, the calibre Calleigh and Eric had identified from the bullet in Shannon's body. Now they knew who had broken into Father Carlos's vestry.  
"Lieutenant Caine", she said in a voice of deathly calm. "Are you a religious man?"  
Speed frowned at her words and his grip tightened around the handle of his gun.  
"Miss Wilson, give me the weapon, please!" Horatio said more cautiously this time.  
But she didn't move an inch, the gun still pressed against Keith's temple. His erratic breath fill the room with a thick atmosphere that spread and covered all of them.  
"Do you believe in God, Lieutenant? Or your men? Because if you do, you would not try to stop me, for it is the will of the Lord and I am just fulfilling my mission!"  
Speed felt a shiver run down his spine. This woman was creepy.  
"Then remember what is said in the Ten Commandments", Horatio said. "You shall not kill. So, please, give me the weapon!"  
Suddenly her face became a grotesque grimace and she tossed Keith to one side, so the man slipped and fell onto the flow, a sickening crack ringing through the air.  
And then, her gun was aiming at Horatio.  
//No!// Speed thought. There was no time left, no chance to think twice.  
A trigger went off - for a second none of them knew where the shot had come from – and was followed by a 'thud' as Marianne Wilson sank down onto the floor beside Keith. Her blood began to flood all over the wooden floor while the woman was caught in a death challenge.  
Speed himself didn't know what had happened, until Horatio and Ryan spun around and took a look at him.  
"As I see", Horatio said and appreciation creeping itself into his voice, "You've become a lot faster."

---

//Another case closed.// Horatio thought and stuffed the Wilson folder back into the filing cabinet. After the crime scene had been properly processed he had gone back to the lab with Speed and Ryan. Wolfe had looked a little puzzled and confused about the latest events, while Speed was rather enjoying himself. It was obvious to everyone that Tim Speedle was glad that it had been him to have closed this case, once and for all.  
But Horatio was not able to feel happy at all. Now that the atmosphere in the lab was less tense and his co-workers readied to knock off work, his thoughts returned to Suzie and Madison.  
He sat down in front of his desk and grabbed the forms Suzie had given him the previous day and he couldn't help but wonder, if he was prepared for this task. Of course, he like Madison, loved her even, and he knew the girl would always hold a special place in his heart. But was that enough to raise a child?  
He didn't have the answer.

Sinking deeply into his thoughts he was startled to hear a knock on the door. Really thinking about not answering he mentally shook his head before finally letting a tired "Come in" past his lips. And really he shouldn't have been surprised to see Alexx walk into the room giving him a concerned look. Sometimes that woman was far to sensible for her own good.  
"Is everything alright, H?" she asked with caution and studied him carefully, while sitting down in one of the chairs in front of his desk.  
Horatio knew that there was no way he would be able to lie to her about this, because she obviously knew something was amiss.  
"Well… no."  
"No?" she asked, her voice still full of concern. It looked like she didn't want to press the matter, but as Horatio remained silent, she leaned forward.  
"C'mon, tell me what's bothering you. Could this have anything to do with you being late for our meeting?"  
Sighing deeply, he thought about the best way to tell her what had been bothering him ever since his meeting with Suzie the previous day. Even after he'd met them for lunch that day to make sure everything was alright he had not been able to shake the feeling of insecurity off.  
"Well?" Alexx said.  
"You're sure you really want to know about it?"  
"Of course, H", she said tartly. "Otherwise I wouldn't have asked for it, would I?"  
Horatio took another deep breath and leaned back in his chair, his hands folder behind his head.  
"I met with Suzie yesterday. You remember Suzie Barnham?"  
She nodded slightly and gestured him to continue.  
"Well, she's in trouble and she asked me for help. She wants me to take care of her daughter…"  
"And what's wrong with it? I thought, you like… what was her name?... Madison?"  
"This is not about having her moved to my place for the weekend."  
"Then, what _is_ it about?"  
"She wants me to have custody for her daughter after she… well… after she is dead."  
"Okay… what kind of trouble is this you're talking about here, H?"  
The confusion was clearly written all over Alexx' face and Horatio managed to give her a slight if sad smile.  
"She has been diagnosed with cancer, final state. They won't be able to treat it and she doesn't know how much time she has left."  
"Well…" Alexx looked at a loss of words for a moment before she continued. "So let me get this straight. She is terminally ill and wants you to have custody for her daughter, so that she can be sure Madison is taken care off once she will no longer be able to do so herself, yes?" At the nod Horatio provided her with she raised an eyebrow, clearly not seeing the problem. "So what?"  
Horatio shot a glance at her. How could she possibly think that this was not a huge problem? Being a mother, taking care of her own children, was most natural to her. She would never think twice about what to do in order to keep her children safe.  
"So, you would ask me to take care of your kids any time? Do you honestly think, I could manage it?"  
She blinked, puzzled by his doubt.  
"Fortunately, I have a husband who will care for them. But, yes, I would."  
Horatio raised an eyebrow, then smiled sardonically.  
"I think, you should listen to your heart instead of your thoughts. It's only natural to worry about a child. Every parent does. I won't deny that the two of you – Madison and you, I mean – will be facing a rough time. But I know you and I know that you will make it through this somehow. Besides, I always thought that you deserved a family of your own. I believe you're going to be a good father."  
She got out of her chair again, intending to leave him alone with his thoughts now.  
"Think about it. You'll do the right thing."

---

Sitting in the break room with the other CSIs Ryan only listened halfheartedly to their conversation in which Speed just had to tell Calleigh and Eric in every detail what had happened at Sanders' house. He himself still couldn't get over the fact that he had been unable to do anything to help anyone. Adding that to the pressure he was feeling the whole day concerning Stetler and Horatio it was just too much. He could not abandon the impression that H was keeping something from him. Something important. Sighing in a mixture of annoyance and frustration he finally got up, fed up with seeing Speed's chest swell with pride, and wanted to get himself a drink when his phone rang.  
Knowing what was about to happen, he exhaled slowly and answered the call, feeling totally defeated.  
"Wolfe?"  
"Oh, Mr Wolfe!" snarled the sickly sweet voice of Rick Stetler. "Nice you answered the call so quickly. As you know, I'd like to have a word with you in my office. And as I hear that Mr Speedle saved the day, I think, he won't have a problem to do the paperwork. I guess, you have a minute or two for me, don't you?"  
//Well… it's not like I have any choice…// Ryan thought, but dared not to say the words aloud.  
"Yeah… that's probably true."  
"So, if you don't mind… you know where my office is. I'll be meeting you there in a few minutes."  
Ryan didn't get the chance to reply anything else. Stetler had already hung up. Obviously, the IAB agent couldn't wait to give him the news.

---

Stetler's office had been empty, when he arrived, so he took a seat and waited for the IAB agent to join him silently. Every minute seemed to extend into lifetime and Ryan began to wonder, if Stetler even enjoyed to keep him on tenterhooks. But when the other man finally entered his office, he realized that he had not been as prepared for this as he had thought.  
"So," Stetler said slowly and sat down in his massive chair behind his desk. "I won't be bothering you with pathetic excuses and poor explanations why it had come to this, Mr Wolfe."  
The IAB agent reached for a drawer and pulled out Ryan's personnel file.  
"To make this short, even though your ambition in this case was remarkable it had simply not been enough. We've come to the conclusion that there is no further need for you to stay in your position as a CSI, especially since Timothy Speedle came back to the team."  
Opening the folder and quickly scanning through the pages, Stetler fixed his attention on Ryan once more.  
"I took it upon myself to make sure you will receive your remaining leave days. I'm truly sorry, but even Ltd. Caine didn't seem to need you any further and so this is the only way. I wish you the best for your future career, though."  
Ryan just wanted Stetler to shut up and let him go. Babbling about how terribly sorry he was would not do much to get him his job back. Even though he had gone through this scenario for a thousand times by now, he haven't had any clue about how miserable he'd feel. Holding his breath for a moment, he got up and thanked Stetler for having him informed so quickly.  
"Oh, you're welcome." Stetler said blinking, obviously puzzled by Ryan's politeness.  
When he left, Ryan struggled with himself to remain calm and collected, even though he liked the idea of beating something up. He had fought hard to become a CSI and now all his efforts had been in vain. Stetler and Horatio had taken it from him. They had destroyed his dream so easily that it seemed unreal he was no longer on the team. What a fool he had been to believe that Horatio would have wanted him to stay. He imagined the lieutenant sitting in Stetler's office, simply shrugging and saying: "Wolfe? Well, he was a scrub after all. Besides, Speed does have much more professional experience."  
The thought haunted him, but he didn't find a curse that would fit to both Horatio and Stetler. To hell with them! His whole life was lying there, broken into pieces, and he knew there wasn't a single person that cared about it.

---

"Did you guys see Wolfe leave?" Speed asked and looked around in the break room. He, Eric and Calleigh had been making jokes like in the old days and they had somehow gotten carried away by it. But after a while, he felt that something was out of place. Something was just not right. It was then that he'd realized that Wolfe had gone.  
"Don't know," Eric said indifferently. "He murmured something about getting something to drink before he left."  
"But didn't come back, did he?" Speed said.  
Calleigh shrugged.  
"Obviously not."  
"He hadn't been too fond of making silly jokes anyway." Eric said. "I remember him saying that it was macabre."  
"Well, maybe we should go looking for him?" Speed suggested.  
"He's an adult. He can take care of himself." Eric retorted. "Besides, why would you care?"  
"Don't know. The thought just came to my mind."  
"Well, it's late anyway. Maybe we should all just get our things and go home. Tomorrow is another day of work after all" Calleigh finally threw in and looked at them expectantly.  
"I guess you're right."  
Nodding in agreement they all got up and went towards the locker room. Walking inside talking animatedly to each other again they didn't overlook Ryan, who slammed his locker shut. Looking at him in confusion they watched him as he strode over to the exit clearly in a bad mood.  
"Hey, boy! What's gotten into you?" Eric called after him, but never received an answer as the younger CSI was already out of range.  
"Okay…" Speed muttered to himself slowly as he started to change. "That was strange"  
Calleigh and Eric could do nothing, but agree.

_End of Episode two: Holy Mary  
__Coming soon: Episode three: Touch the screen_


	3. Moving

Hi everyone,

"We never Close" is moving over to my account. Since I am continuing this story alone, I decided to repost this story in smaller chapters. This means that it will be easier for me to update new chapters, as I am able to put up parts of it instead of a whole episode.

You can find the story under my Penname "Ayu the Messiah". (http: /www .fanfiction. net/ ~ayuthemessiah)

Ayu


End file.
